


TwoKinds: Redemption

by WildSnivy



Category: Two Kinds
Genre: Furry, Gen, Mystery, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-15
Updated: 2015-10-15
Packaged: 2018-04-26 12:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 148,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5004832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildSnivy/pseuds/WildSnivy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the webcomic Two Kinds by Tom Fischbach. Originally published by Jared "WildSnivy" Popelar on October 2014 at Fanfiction.net.</p>
<p>A full year has passed since the events on the Na'Rella. A failed ambush and whispers of a secretive Wolf organization threatening to destabilize the Human-Wolf situation lead Keith, Natani, Zen and some old acquaintances out to unmask the ring and prevent Mekkan from plunging into war yet again. </p>
<p>Thank you very much for reading, and do enjoy the story!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I: Soccer, Sea Songs and Steak

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Part I: Soccer, Sea Songs and Steak

Chapter 1

In a word, the skirmish was short-lived, maybe even over-before-it-started. The bandit wasn't even sure how it happened, or even what happened for that matter. The advantage was all theirs, five on two, and now here he was. Last Keidran standing, stumbling, struggling to find a weapon. He would have even settled for a branch at this point. Something, anything to ward off his pursuers. Stunned, stupefied at how he was still alive. A quandary he had neither the time nor brain power to ponder presently. His mind was fixated on living. Dodging his pursuers and escaping. Surviving.

He identified a battle axe in the hand of one of his fallen brothers-in-arms, and instinctively made a move for it. Preparation was key; he wanted, had to be ready for if, no,  _when_  his adversaries started looking for him. Hunting him. The bandit quickened his pace, grimacing as the pain in his right abdomen gradually intensified. It had two sources: a stab wound and an arrow, and the bandit wasn't sure which one came first in the melee. Maybe they happened simultaneously. But he didn't care at the moment, why would he? The axe was there, and he was closing in. Urgency continued to accelerate him towards the armament, resulting in a painful crescendo of agony as he drew closer. Until his body could not stand any more, and the bandit collapsed, barely an arm's reach out from the weapon. He almost had it; he could probably crawl to it. He inched closer to the axe, arm outstretched...

And then he was beaten to it. It was his adversary, the warrior. His target, the should-have-been victim. And he squelched the bandit's hopes of retaliation with a slight  _clank_  as he stepped on the axe's hilt, pinning it to the ground beneath. The bandit bowed his head in defeat, in hopelessness.

"Do you know who I am?" the warrior asked in accented Keidran tongue. The bandit gazed up from the overtaken weapon, at his former target, his soon-to-be-killer in all likelihood as well. He was a vexing study, the warrior. He was obviously not a Keidran; the ears and tail were too long, his stature remarkably short, especially for a male, fur a short, monochromatic beige the bandit was not familiar with. Also, what were those wrappings around his feet for? His best guess was bandaging, but there didn't seem to be any wounds that would need covering up, or at the least no visible ones. Some sort of shoe for Keidran, then? But if that was the case, he probably would have encountered them earlier at some point before this disaster of a raid. It was extremely confusing, and for whatever reason it was the only thing holding his attention right now.

"You wolves do enjoy your raiding parties, don't you?" the warrior continued as he picked up the axe and examined it, almost reverently, as if the axe were some sort of fine sculpture he was trying to fully appreciate.

The bandit coughed twice and tried to catch his breath before responding. "W-we didn't want to hurt anyone..." the weak reply came.

"Oh, no, I'm sure. And I'd agree with you if you didn't just make an attempt to kill me and my traveling partner," the warrior calmly retorted. He spun the axe around in his hand, as if he was trying to get a feel for the weapon, and then buried it into the nearby tree with a satisfying  _whack_  as it connected. The wolf flinched a bit in surprise as the warrior knelt down, now at eye-level with the bandit.

"Hey, look at me," the warrior coolly demanded as he slapped the wolf twice. The bandit lifted his head again, now looking into the blank yellow eyes of the warrior. "I'll ask you again: do you know who I am?"

The wolf grunted back in discomfort. "Never..seen you before."

"Really now?" the warrior returned, feigning interest. He rifled around in the pocket of his cloth trousers and unfolded the scrap of paper it was housing. He then flipped it around for the wolf to see: it was a rather detailed and remarkably accurate illustration of the warrior from the shoulders up. Near the bottom, scribbled in Keidran script, was the name: Keith Keiser.

"Because it seems like your friends do," Keith spoke as he returned the paper to his pocket. "Which leads me to believe I'm not a target of opportunity. You didn't attack me because I was in the wrong spot at the right time. You and your gang were looking for me, weren't you?"

The wolf sighed and shifted his gaze down at the ground. "It wasn't supposed to end like this..."

"Oh, for crying..." Keith muttered with exasperation. He stood up and picked up the downed bandit with both arms, dragging him to the axed tree and leaning him against it. He knelt back down after the raider was adequately positioned.

"Look, we both know you're hunting me," he continued sternly. "I also know that you've lost a good share of blood from your wounds and are losing more by the second. I'd say your chances are looking pretty slim at best. I'm not sure what the Keidran afterlife has in store for you, but how about you up your chances a bit and tell me what I want to hear. Who sent you and why?"

The raider smirked slightly, and the Basitin's yellow-eyed glare narrowed. "Sorry to hear that then," the wolf sneered, smugly. "'cause I don't know a damn thing."

"That's a lie and we both know it. Who sent you?"

"My employer has an array of agents at his disposal," the bandit continued, pausing momentarily to cough again. A number of red orbs flew out of his mouth, staining the earth next to Keith. "I never met him; he just gave us a name, face and price." He took a moment to observe the battlefield and his fallen comrades. "I can see why your prize is so high now," he chortled.

"That isn't the full story. What else?" Keith demanded.

"Nothing. That's all there is, Mister Keiser," the wolf whispered with smug satisfaction, as if Keith had just blundered in this chess match of a conversation. "I have nothing to share about them, so I can't betray them," and the wolf paused again to cough up more blood. "I will tell you we're not alone. There are plenty more of us on the way. You fended us off well, true, but how many of us can you break before you do?"

And the wolf started laughing, to Keith's blunted surprise. He continued to listen. "You are a marked man, and we will..." the wolf never finished his sentence, and his head rolled limply to the side as a red trickle began to flow out of his mouth.

Keith sighed heavily at the now deceased bandit, and passed a hand over his eyes. Basitin held high respect for the dead, up to and including mindless contract killers, and Keith tried to uphold his heritage wherever he could.

Still, the bandit's words were disconcerting, even to Keith. It wasn't a mercenary group after him like he initially thought. Somehow, Keith had managed to earn the ire of an entire section of the wolf nation, and from his observations, one that valued secrecy above almost everything else. He found it ironic how the chief diplomat and ambassador of the Basidian Isles was uncovering assassination bids and slaying bandits, two things that more or less fell under the exact antithesis of his job description.

Keith's ears twitched briefly as his companion approached from behind. "Did you get anything from him?" Natani asked, cursorily inspecting the bandit's body as he flipped his longbow over his shoulder. The scene produced mixed feelings for Natani; on the one hand, he too was a wolf Keidran, much like the bandits, and it felt somewhat uncomfortable taking down his own kind in this regard. But then again, he was provoked, and Natani was also a contract killer for hire whenever he wasn't with Keith, so how upset could this make him?

"Looks like we made a few enemies, Nat," Keith responded as he stood back up from his previously crouched position. "Do the Forest Wolves have much standing in organized crime?"

"Like a mafia? Not outside the major cities, no. Why do you ask?"

"I think someone's ordered a hit on me," Keith said with remarkable calmness given the subject matter.

Natani sighed at the Basitin. "Dammit, Keith. What did you do this time?"

"I'm actually not sure," Keith replied, thinking for a better response to that question but not finding one. "This isn't a government order either. Wolf tribe doesn't have too much incentive to kill an ambassador from a nation they haven't heard of much. This is a private deal."

"She'll want to hear about this, Keith."

"She'll have to. I'm her best link to mainland affairs."

Natani didn't say anything back. He was simply staring at forest floor, without expression. Keith knew what that posture meant, and reacted to it relatively quickly. "Nat, look. I'm fine," he tried to reassure the wolf. "Whoever sent these guys has no idea they failed yet, and we'll be long gone by the time they find out. We're in no immediate danger right now, so trust me when I say we'll get this sorted out."

"I know, Keith. And you will," Natani sighed again. "But you don't think that I can go somewhere with you where you are not at risk of getting killed?"

"I'll try to do that in the future, Nat," Keith responded with a small grin. "No promises, though. Now, we need a way back to the island. Any ideas?"

"Well, we can probably make it to the port town by nightfall. We can rest there, commission a ship in the morning and get on our way. All we're missing is the crew."

"Then I think I know who we're after," Keith said, almost as if he had this entire plan worked from the beginning.

Natani, conversely, was clueless. "Namely...?" he tried to coax.

"Just do some thinking. Who have we met in the past that has enough sailing experience to man a ship by themselves?"

Natani started to pace back and forth as he talked himself through this problem. "Our first option could be to just hire a crew ourselves, but Zen's done that in the past and they tend to charge more than the fair price, so let's scratch that idea. For now at least."

"Alright, what else?"

"We can try that blond haired human we sailed with to tiger country that one time."

"Eric," Keith clarified.

"Right, except we have no idea where he is now and considering that he is a tradesman, the chances he's at the port we're going to right now with nothing better to do are almost zero."

"Fair enough."

"Which means that the only people I can think of who will for sure be in town and available are..." Natani stopped his sentence once he deduced what the rest of it was going to be. He eyed Keith disapprovingly and slowly shook his head. "No..."

"They'll be the only ones around for it, Natani. You said it yourself. We don't have too many alternatives."

"But does it have to be  _them_?" Natani asked reluctantly. "I can get Zen to send over some extra gold if we need to hire a crew."

"Nat," Keith said persuasively. "We're going to see them."

Natani opened his mouth to protest, but realized that it wouldn't change the Basitin's mind. Instead, he sighed a third time and replied, "Alright, when do you want to head out?"

* * *

 

The Boxing Fox was a Keidran-run pub that opened around a year ago in the harbor town, and by the two co-owners standards was a smashing success. The only complaint they could even consider throwing at it was that the establishment was slightly misnamed. Despite being a dog Keidran, Evals didn't really have that much boxer in him; if someone did have to assign him a "breed", then chocolate Labrador would probably the most accurate guess if not necessarily the most correct. Still, the name suggestion had a distinct ring to it, and if it was in the name of publicity and catchy rhyme schemes, then Evals considered the misnomer a very small sacrifice to make.

Evals and Mike, the second proprietor, were actually personal slaves to Eric Vaughan until recently, and the majority of their work involved maintaining and sailing his ship fleet, most noteworthy the Na'Rella. Mike never bothered to translate that name into something more familiar during his service there, and ever since the Grand Templar Trace Legacy bought his freedom it was hard to say he cared about it now. He and Evals wasted almost no time leaving that boat as soon as they got to dry land. That was also when they started having difficulties finding stable work in tiger country, mostly due to their almost entire background being in the sailing industry, and their work not really translating over to any available positions. Ultimately, and partially as a final resort, they decided to try their hand at entrepreneurship, and caught a ship back to the port city to found their new business.

And so far, the two friends have found it hard if not impossible to be upset with how they have done so far. Mike tended to handle business on the administrative level while Evals worked more on the customer service front, but with the end of the day quickly approaching, Mike was up front on the floor, getting ready to start cleanup while Evals finished running a rag over the sanded wood bar.

"Am I the only one who feels like we didn't have too many people come in today?" asked the fox Keidran as he set down a bucket of soap water and dunked a mop in it.

"No, because you're right. We didn't," Evals replied as he hung the damp rag up to dry. "Still though, rather just a few people come in as opposed to nobody, eh?"

"I suppose," Mike said as he made a few strokes across the pub's floor. "And I'm sure we're still in the black today; it's just the flow that scares me."

Evals chuckled a bit and walked towards Mike with a bottle of ale. "You're a very left-minded guy, Mike," he observed as he bit off and spat out the bottle's cork.

"And you're overly optimistic sometimes," Mike returned, smiling slightly as he dunked the mop back in the bucket and smeared it back across the wooden floor.

"Have to, we wouldn't get any customers otherwise," Evals said as he sat on one of the round tables next to Mike, waving the bottle in front of his friend. "Hey, considering how we got here, Mikey, I'd say we're sitting pretty right now. Am I right?" he asked as he swirled the bottle seductively under the fox's nose.

A small silence ensued, and then Mike sighed, grabbed the bottle and muttered, "Right," before grinning again and taking a brief swig of the ale. He quickly studied the bottle's label before handing it back to Evals. "Basitin ale?"

"Yeah, they know what to do when it comes to brewing. This is the good stuff," Evals happily answered as he went for a sip of his own.

"Don't get too wasted, Evals. At least wait until we're through with cleanup."

"Yeah, yeah," the dog replied and set the bottle on the table. "I'm going to move some of our stock up front for tomorrow," he informed Mike as the pub's front door was knocked upon from the outside.

Mike sighed and replaced the mop in the water bucket. "Ten minutes before closing," he noted, looking at the clock above the bar. "Honestly, it's like somebody, somewhere doesn't want us to close up early."

"Your turn," Evals flatly replied as he started towards the pub's storeroom door. "I dealt with that drunken mob last week after that soccer match, remember?" The Result That Will Live in Infamy, as it was now known, involved the hometown soccer club, a very questionable red card, and a penalty kick that put them out of a championship match. The pub was quite literally howling after that little spectacle and it took Evals nearly a half-hour to get everything quiet and moved out the door.

Mike finished his approach to the front door and slid back the wooden viewer. The dimming, setting sun illuminated the source, or rather sources, of the knocking: a Basitin in warrior's regalia with a slightly crooked right ear and a wolf Keidran with heterochromatic eyes and shoulder length brown hair. Mike nearly panicked and slammed the viewer shut once he fully identified the Basitin visitor; this was the same one that was on the Na'Rella back when he was still under Eric's command. The same one that had quite a bit of fun from deploying Basitin black magic during his travels. Mike was actually subjected to one of the more infamous spells of that particular arsenal, as was Natani: Keith had managed to alter both of their genders using the art, and Mike found the experience absolutely traumatizing. Slightly amusing in retrospect albeit, and Evals certainly tried to make the most of Mike's condition while he could, but it was still scarring, and the fox had troubles associating with Keith ever since. Then as if that wasn't enough, the Basitin followed it up by summoning a ghost shortly thereafter, one that very nearly haunted the Na'Rella, never mind what its intentions were. At least Mike wasn't alone for that one; Evals was also victimized by that fiasco as well, but at least he managed to cope with that incident and salvage some sort of friendly relation with Keith afterwards. Mike did not recuperate nearly as well.

But despite nearly fleeing for the pub's emergency exit as soon as the words "Hello, Mike," came across his ears, the fox decided to draw upon his courage, what little of that resource he had, and made an attempt to carry out  _some_  conversation with his old... Mike wasn't actually sure what he would classify Keith as. Acquaintance was a good compromise, he thought, and decided to stick with it.

"I get the feeling you two aren't here as customers," Mike noted, eyes slowly narrowing in Keith's direction as his statement progressed.

"We technically are," Keith replied, trying his best to come across as friendly to the fox, who looked like he was going to jump out of his fur in fright any second now. "We're not here for liquor though."

Mike's apprehension quickly made way for intrigue. "Then what are you here for?"

"We'd like to hire you. And Evals too, if he's around."

"Hire?" Mike asked with confusion. "What for? Evals and I are businessmen now. We work for ourselves."

"I need to get back to my homeland, Mike, and I know you and Evals are ex-crewmen from your time with Eric. We need you two on our deck to help sail the ship getting us there." Keith paused briefly before continuing. "Mind if we come in?" he requested, warmly and trying to keep his prospective crewmember calm.

Mike wasn't sure what to think about this offer. On the one hand, Keith was a harbinger of chaos as far as Mike was concerned, and the less time he spent around him the better. He was with Keith for two months on the Na'Rella and between Keith, all of his antics and the additional drama that was created as a result, Mike had about his fill of craziness and just plain absurdity on his sailing expeditions.

And then the positives of this job started coming to mind. For starters, Mike hadn't been at sea for extended periods of time ever since the pub was established, and he did miss the prospect of extended sailing somewhat. Evals probably missed it more than he did; he was quite literally a sea dog in that regard, and had he greeted these two instead he would have probably immediately accepted their offer.

He was not going to make this decision on his own, however. Keith had asked for both of their services after all, so Evals should have some input on the issue, even though Mike was all but certain what the answer would be. His mind made up, Mike shut the viewer, undid the main lock and opened the door for the two visitors. "Welcome to The Boxing Fox, then," Mike greeted with a hesitant but friendly grin. "You two need a drink?"

* * *

 

Chapter 2

"Keith? No Human."

"Oh, right. Sorry Natani," Keith responded to the wolf as they entered the otherwise vacated building. Keith removed his overcoat and hung it over a bar stool as he turned back to address Mike. "Mike, I know Keidran is effectively a second language for you, but, for Natani, do you think...?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Definitely." Mike nearly forgot that Natani, unlike most Keidran he knew, was not bilingual. So if he wanted any bearing on Keith's job offer, the talk would have to be in his native language. Mike cleared his throat and obliged. "Go ahead and take a seat. I'll get Evals from the back," he spoke with a slight Human accent and turned for the storeroom. Keith and Natani nodded and situated themselves at one of the circular tables.

Another bout of nervousness befell Mike as he retreated to Evals' location. He was in the strange position of both trusting and not trusting his prospective employer. Keith was a good guy and reputable in multiple ways, so why was he so uneasy around him? Maybe he was afraid of what he was capable of? Basitin black magic. Mike shuddered at the thought. He probably wouldn't be as nervous as he was if he hadn't witnessed and experienced its effects firsthand, and if he didn't suspect the Basitin would try it again, then he really had no reason to be worrying right now.

But he wasn't talking to Keith now. No, his next contact would be with someone he has known for much longer and trusted more than anyone else. And maybe once he was done talking with Evals his fears would be mostly if not completely alleviated. Mike tried to hold that thought as he opened the storeroom door. Just tell Evals what's going on in a calm, collected manner and receive his thoughts on the subject. It was that simple, and it could be achieved with an simpler procedure.

Walk through the storeroom door. Done.

"Hey, Mikey. Who's at the door?" Evals inquired as he finished moving a cask across the room.

Close the door to ensure privacy. Done.

"Everything alright?"

Deliver the job in a nice, calm tone...

"Evals! That Basitin is back and he's trying to get me onto a ship again!"

Critical error.

Even Evals was confused by the sudden and dramatic change in atmosphere. "One more time, and a little less panicked," he requested. "Something about a Basitin and a ship?"

Mike tried to collect himself from that outburst and tried saying something more coherent. "Alright, remember that Basitin from a couple years back we were sailing with? We dropped him off at the edge of tiger territory?"

"Yeah, with Flora and her friends. What about him?"

"He's in the pub right now with Natani and he's trying to hire us as a sailing crew."

Evals' ears perked. "And what did you tell him?" he asked with strong intrigue.

"Nothing yet, I wanted to get you!"

"Then let's stop making him wait! Come on!" exclaimed Evals with an overabundance of enthusiasm as he started pushing the still agitated fox towards the storeroom's door.

"Evals! Evals, wait a minute!" Mike protested as he was forcibly scooted across the floor.

"Quit being so dodgy, Mike. This'll be fun! Just you, me and them, out on the sea again! When was the last time we..."

Mike stopped himself in front of the door and turned around to face his friend directly. "You know what he did to me the last time I was on a ship with him, Evals!" he sternly pointed out.

The dog's excitement was quickly curbed by that statement. "What are you talking about?"

"Think hard," Mike replied with a good share of sarcasm.

It took Evals only a second to pick up the reference. "Oh, yes!" he interjected while a mischievous grin formed on his face. "That..."

"I don't want..." Mike paused briefly. "...Michelle to make a guest appearance on the ship this time around, if you know where I'm getting at."

"Yes, I believe I do." Evals spoke as his mind started to drift towards thoughts of that very, very lovable vixen. Who was also his best friend, but Evals really didn't care about that. As a person, Michelle was everything he dreamed of, and then some. It was a strange relationship, wherein Evals tried everything to win over Michelle but she continued to shoot down each attempt as it came. And her departure from the Na'Rella, as Mike could probably attest, was quite unfortunate to say the least. But that only made her unforgettable for the dog, and only drove his thoughts about her further...

His fantasy was cut short by Mike's snapping. "Evals! Topic at hand!"

"Oh, right," Evals hastily responded as he was unexpectedly yanked back to reality. "Um, look. I know you're not comfortable sailing with the Basitin after everything he did to you, and I completely understand if you want to..."

"It's not that I don't want to, I do. I think I just need to make it clear up front that I'm not going to put up with any of his party tricks, and..." Mike's sentence tampered off, unsure of how he should finish it.

"You want someone else to back you," Evals finished.

"Exactly. You...you can help me with this, right?"

Evals had an immediate answer to that question, but withheld it for a bit. "Oh, Mikey, don't make me decide between you and Michelle. We both know how that one's going to end..."

"E-Evals!" Mike cried with desperation.

"I'm kidding, bro! Of course I'll back you up here!" Evals laughed as he clapped a hand on Mike's shoulder. "I mean, what are friends for?"

"Apparently taking advantage of you under unlikable and dire circumstances."

"Spot on. Now let's get out there and see what kind of work our Basitin has for us," Evals said cheerfully as he opened the storeroom's door.

* * *

 

"Alright, alright. I, Keith Keiser of the Basidian Isles, do solemnly swear not to practice any known form of Basitin black magic, or any known variant thereof, upon my two prospective crew members, Mike and Evals, throughout the full duration of their employment under my name, so help me Gods."

"I thought Basitin black magic wasn't a thing," Natani whispered in slight confusion.

"And I am astonished they haven't picked up on that yet, but if it makes them feel better, then I'll play along." Keith turned back to Mike and Evals. "So can I put my hand down now and actually talk to you about the job?" The Basitin had no problems in taking an oath he had no means to break, but he did think the formality requirement of this one was a little excessive. However, results were hard to argue with. Mike finally looked at ease for probably the first time tonight, and that put Keith at ease too in a way. He always found level-headed people easier to talk to, doubly so when you were trying to hire them for something, and Keith wanted to ensure that stayed as such.

"So where we headed?" Evals asked first in between swigs of ale. He was the only one at the table with a drink in his hand, which Mike thought was a little unprofessional, but neither Keith nor Natani seemed to care about that at the moment.

"I need to get back to the island to give a report there, and I need you two to navigate and man the ship that'll get us there."

"I thought you got thrown off that island, Keith," Mike pointed out. "Twice, actually."

"That second time technically didn't count, Mike. That was more of a sendoff if anything. They wouldn't permanently kick me off there again if they wanted any updates from me."

"You'd think you could just send them a mail," the dog offered, taking another drink. "It'd be a little easier, wouldn't you think?"

"It would, if the postal service there wasn't completely internal," Keith blandly answered. "International mail is not a thing where I come from."

"Magical long-range communication isn't an option either," Natani added on. "Basitins and magic don't have a history of getting along well."

"So the only way to get in touch with them, then, is to visit them in person," Mike inferred.

"And that's why we're here," Keith concluded.

"Not to sound insensitive," Evals said as he sipped once more from the bottle. "But your people seem very, very hard to get in touch with."

"Well, you can't live in seclusion without some negative side effects, so I have to work with what I'm dealt," Keith responded, slightly irked at the system as well. But that wasn't the talking point tonight. "So what do you two think?"

"How about a ship, for starters?" Mike began. Despite his previous disposition towards this job, he wanted to ensure that this trip caused as few problems as possible for its duration. Almost everyone at the table knew that the fox would probably be the most susceptible to panic, Mike himself included, so the less this expedition tried to invoke that response, the better off everyone would be. "It doesn't have to be as large as the Na'Rella was, but she'll need room for four. And a decent-sized cargo hold for supplies."

"The harbormaster and quartermaster are open all day tomorrow," Natani spoke up. "We'll commission a ship, get supplies sorted out, and hopefully get cast off before noon. Keith and I will handle particulars; we just need you two to sail it." Natani bit his tongue immediately afterwards, no less apprehensive about and no more confident in the abilities of the dog and fox. But if Keith was sure that his hopes of getting home were in the hands of two Keidran that were probably more qualified to be comedic relief than shipmen, then Natani would just need to hold back his objections for the time being.

"The trip will probably take two weeks, one way," Evals added on as he finished off the bottle and tossed it into a nearby trash bin. "Not as long as the Na'Rella expedition was but still pretty lengthy. Probably longer depending on how long you're thinking on staying there. You guys sure you have the resources to make it?"

"Absolutely," Keith affirmed. "We have more than enough funds to get the ship, supplies, and anything else we might need. Again, let me and Natani make this happen. You two are just going to be the crewmen," he restated as he detached a medium-sized coin pouch from his belt. "This is actually a good springboard into the topic you two are probably most interested in."

"That being?" Evals asked.

"Payment," Keith answered, tossing the pouch onto the table with a metallic  _clank_  as it landed. Keith continued as Mike picked it up and got to work untying the rope knot. "That's for you two. It's about a month's worth of lost profit in closing this place up, plus a decently sized stipend for your troubles as well."

The knot finally came loose and Mike tossed the rope aside as he opened the pouch and peered inside. His eyes went wide as Evals leaned over to take a look of his own. The bag was stuffed with gold coins, five hundred at the least. "This is a small fortune..." Mike unnecessarily noted, stunned at the amount the Basitin was willing to part with for his employment.

"Where'd all the cash flow come from?" Natani asked. He'd been traveling with Keith for a long time, but this was the first time he had seen such a large transaction involve him.

"Being a general has its perks, Nat, and one of them is a good paycheck," Keith replied, almost in an esteemed tone. "A runner dropped off my salary about a month back, and I'd been holding it in case something like this happened."

The Basitin turned his attention back to the other two Keidran, still gawking at their eventual take from the job. Or at least until Keith decided to edit the "eventual" part. "You're free to take that in advance if you like, but I need a response from you first. We have a deal?"

Mike and Evals wasted no time at all answering that question. "Deal!" they exclaimed chorally.

"Brilliant," Keith replied with satisfaction as he stood up from his chair. "Natani and I will get everything set up then. Thanks for doing this for us."

"Sure thing!" Evals beamed, his tail excitedly wagging behind him. "Sure thing!"

Mike, however, looked a little more worried. "Hey, wait a minute. When did you say we were leaving?"

"Tomorrow, at noon," Natani answered as Keith pulled his overcoat back on. In no way was he looking forward to sailing with these two clowns, so he figured the more authority he asserted over them, the more work they'd get done and the shorter this trip would feel. "We're casting off as soon as all of our supplies get loaded, so, please, try not to be late getting there."

The dog and fox looked at each other with apprehension, then back at the wolf.

"Tomorrow?" Mike asked skeptically.

"You're serious?" Evals inquired hesitantly.

"Is there a problem?" Natani demanded confusedly.

"Well..." Mike started.

"Tomorrow's Friday," Evals woofed.

Natani waited for a few seconds for a follow-up but never got one. "And...?"

"Nat, it's bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday," Keith informed the wolf. "I think that's what they're going for."

"It was?" Mike asked before Evals' heel struck his shin, prompting him to clear his throat and more confidently assert, "It was."

Natani was not convinced. "Alright, what's going on?" he said, scowling at the two Keidran sailors.

"You see," Evals sheepishly admitted. "Mike and I might already have plans for that evening."

All Natani could say in response to that was, "Eh?"

"Harbourtown FC is playing that night," Mike explained, his enthusiasm gradually building. "And Evals and I were going to attend it."

"Thought they lost their last match," Keith posited with interest. Natani looked down at him skeptically, as if all of this was a gigantic joke and Keith was somehow in on it.

"Yeah, it was their semifinal," Mike explained, his mood slightly dampened but undeterred. "But they're still playing for third in the league, and we wouldn't miss their last game of the season!"

"We already picked up the tickets and everything!" Evals smiled as he pulled two colored stubs of paper out of his pants pocket. "Game kicks off at six..." His voice trailed off as his gaze shifted towards Natani, his hand covering his face almost as if he had given up on the conversation at hand entirely.

"Aw, don't look so down, Natani!" Evals tried to assuage the wolf, his tail still gently wagging. "What with the advance Keith gave us, we could probably get you in too!"

"No, no, it's alright," Natani sighed as he started shaking his head. "Have fun."

"We have a scarf you can borrow!" Mike cheerfully offered as he pulled the article in question out of the knapsack propped against his chair and held it above his head. He then turned his head to the side and puzzlingly looked at Natani. "You have a cold or something?"

Natani gave the blue and grey striped cloth an uninterested, cursory inspection while he continued to exasperatedly decline the offer. "Really, I'm fine. Soccer's not really my sport anyways."

Mike and Evals suddenly began staring at Natani as if he had just confessed to murder. Mike's scarf also fell out of his hands and glided down onto the table, hanging over the edge like a strip of bacon that didn't quite land in the frying pan.

"Soccer is not really your sport?" Mike repeated.

"What the hell does that mean?" Evals pried.

Keith saw where this conversation was going almost immediately. "We should probably get out of here and find some rooms for the night, right Natani?" he interrupted as he began escorting the wolf to the pub's door.

"Those morons..." Natani muttered, vigorously massaging his temples.

"We'll see you two Saturday morning, alright?" Keith called back to the two Keidran.

"We'll be there!" Evals happily responded.

"Hope you feel better soon, Natani!" Mike said as he waved goodbye.

"Nice for him to apologize for the headache he gave me," Natani cynically grumbled as he walked out the pub's front door while Keith held it.

And before the Basitin made his exit from the building, he waited for his traveling partner to venture out of earshot. He then turned to the dog and fox, smiled slightly and said, "Enjoy the game," before departing.

* * *

 

Chapter 3

The clock tower chimed quarter to twelve, and Natani grew even more impatient. He was leaned against the harbor's wooden fence, blankly observing Keith hammer out the particulars of the ship acquisition while Human and Keidran dockhands moved materials and supplies into the cargo bay of the Quantum; whatever exactly a "quantum" was Natani would probably never know. The term definitely had a scientific ring to it, and Natani could respect that to an extent. Alchemy was, after all, an art of the trade for contract assassins. But as to the actual definition, Natani was clueless.

On the topic of clueless, where in the world were Mike and Evals? With the planned castoff time less than fifteen minutes out and their whereabouts currently unknown, Natani was starting to get the idea that they had effectively chiseled their way out of this contract. It was for this reason Natani never paid for anything up front; it is very easy to skip out on obligations when people do. And just the thought of letting two Keidran mutually sharing the same brain cell cheat him and Keith out of a huge sum of cash left an awful taste in his mouth.

Natani really was unsure of why he had such a bad disposition towards them, and he earnestly thought the answer had to be a little more substantial than "because they're dimwits." If he was willing to look past their low intelligence, they were actually very likable Keidran: personable, charming, humorously incompetent at times, which the wolf had a difficult time classifying as either a good thing or bad. They were loyal above everything else, however, and that was probably the only reason Natani wasn't out hunting them down right now. He knew that they were put through a lot during their... involuntary servitude, and in all likelihood they could have given up on each other at any point during that period. Natani could only revere that quality, and he figured that if they were as loyal to each other as they were to their contractors, then really he shouldn't be fretting anything.

Unfortunately, that also left him doing the one thing he abhorred passionately: waiting. Natani sighed and slumped down to a sitting position against one of the fence posts, unsure of what else can be done at the present time.

" _Honestly, Nat, you really need to stop worrying as much as you do. It's not good for the blood pressure,_ " a voice called in Natani's head as he glanced nonchalantly to his right. Sitting against the adjacent post, legs crossed and looking as content as ever, was a projection of Zen, Natani's older brother and partner-in-arms when he was around for it. Of course, Zen was on the far end of the continent now, which meant that he was taking jobs just as a solo operative. This was nothing new for the siblings, but complications tended to arise when the prospective employer came looking for the Magi  _Brothers_  and could only find one. And Zen's performance without his younger sibling's support... tended to vary, and that was probably the nicest way Natani could word it.

"You're in a good mood, Zen," Natani noted, then sniffed the air curiously as a scent drifted by. "Does something smell like alcohol?"

" _Ah, sorry about that,_ " Zen confessed with a slightly embarrassed grin. " _Took yesterday off for the Blackwood match last night. Haven't had a chance to clean up yet. Shoulda been there, we had a viewing orb set up and everything._ "

"And how did it go?" Natani asked with forced interest. He may be the one person who did not really care about the sport, but the least he could do was humor everyone else about it.

" _Our first half was crap, but we pulled it together in the second. Not gonna spoil it though, in case you hear about it somewhere else._ "

"How considerate," Natani flatly replied, his pretended interest long since evaporated.

" _But enough of me, little brother. How have_ you  _been?_ " Zen inquired, then turned his head to spot Keith still conversing with the harbormaster. " _What's your favorite Basitin been up to lately?_ " he then teasingly followed up.

Natani would have loved to slug Zen at that point had he been a little more real, so he begrudgingly let that little snippet slide. "We're headed back to the Basidian Isles. Keith and I had a run-in with some wolf bandits, and apparently their employers really want us out of the way for something."

" _Ugh, that sounds fun,_ " Zen remarked with an infusion of sarcasm and sympathy. " _So, what does this have to do with the trip?_ "

"Well, Keith, in addition to being a general, is also the head of Basitin foreign affairs. He was originally sent to help diffuse the Human-Wolf situation..."

" _With you, of course,_ " Zen jokingly interrupted. " _You know, neutrality and all that fun stuff._ "

"Shuddup, Zen," Natani hushed before continuing. "...but now that someone has just ordered a hit on a diplomat, we need to know what happens next. And since the only good way to do so right now is to see them in person, here we are. Keith's booking a boat, you're talking to me, and..." Natani stood up and quickly looked around the docks. "Where are those two?"

" _Who are we looking for?_ " Zen asked as he stood up and began surveying the harbor as well.

"Two Keidran. One fox and one dog," Natani explained. "Keith hired them as crew a couple days ago, we're set to sail in about ten minutes, and I have no idea where they are."

" _It's alright, Nat. Let's just think this through,_ " Zen offered to help. " _Do you know what they would have been doing last night?_ "

"I know they had plans to attend a soccer match. Who was their team...?" Natani struggled to remember. "Blue and grey was the color scheme..." he recalled, thinking back on the scarf from the night before last.

" _Was it Harbourtown?_ " Zen proposed with a smirk on his face.

"That was it, Harbourtown FC," Natani nodded as he turned to face his brother again. "Zen, what's that smile for?" he asked skeptically.

" _Nothing..._ " Zen tried to dodge through a small but suppressed laughing fit. " _Nothing at all._ "

"Really, Zen. What are you thinking about?"

Zen covered his mouth with his hand as Natani's ears picked up Evals' voice emanating from the far end of the port. "It's unbelievable, Mike! How do you throw a two-nil lead in forty-five minutes or less? Seriously, how is that physically possible?"

Natani had a severely limited Human vocabulary, and Zen's was only marginally larger, but he did know what the expressions "two-nil" and "forty-five" correlated to. At which point, any pretense of Zen's composure was done away with as his small, chuckling trickle escalated into a roaring river of laughter. Natani casually looked over at her brother again, his expression a bit more understanding than it was previously.

"I think I know who Blackwood played, and I think I know how it ended."

" _It ended 3-0 on penalties too! This is beautiful!_ " Zen managed to choke out.

"You sadistic little dog, you," Natani teased. "Never saw you as one to enjoy another's losses."

" _To which I say, one man's garbage is another's treasure!_ " Zen fired back, recovering from his outburst. " _I kinda want to hear what they have to say about it. Can you ask them for me?_   _The dog especially?_ "

"Why? You already know how it ended, Zen. What can you possibly get out of them saying what you already know?"

" _Well, they don't know who I am, and they don't know we're diehard Blackwood fans._ "

"Wrong. It's just you."

" _Yeah, whatever. Plus, I thought you'd enjoy the prospect of screwing with two guys that have been screwing with you._ "

"Uh huh," Natani replied, unconvinced. "I'll think about it. In the meantime, I'll get back to you on the ship. Need to make sure these fools are geared and ready to go."

" _Don't hang up on me, Nat! I want to hear this!_ " Zen begged, and then casually reached over with one arm and hugged Natani. " _Please? For me?_ "

"Shuddup, Zen!" Natani snapped with annoyance.

"Natani, are you talking to yourself again?" Mike confusedly asked.

Natani shuddered a bit as the fox interrupted his conversation. He hated when that happened, enough to the point where he half-wished that someone besides him could see Zen and know that he wasn't crazy.

"I wasn't talking to myself, Zen was here," Natani clarified as Mike stared at him in befuddlement.

" _And still am,_ " Zen corrected, smirking and waving a hand at Natani. " _I love when that happens to you, by the way._ "

"Right," Mike nodded unconvinced, almost humoring the wolf. He then looked up and examined the ship's exterior. "So who's this?"

Natani froze for a bit until he figured out Mike was referring to the ship, then turned to it and started explaining its features. "That's the Quantum, and as soon as Keith is done with the harbormaster and you two get situated, we'll get on our way. As you two requested, it has..."

"It?" Mike and Evals asked in conjoined bewilderment, and Natani could have sworn Zen joined in on that interjection as well.

Natani sighed as he corrected yet another breach in maritime etiquette. " _She_  has ample storage space and housing for six: four for us and then an extra two if we need them. You guys have the rooms on C Deck, so go ahead and get your things moved in. We still have a few minutes."

"We'll check it out. Thanks, Natani!" Mike replied as he hoisted a large brown sack over his shoulder, containing clothes and personal effects Natani assumed. Evals followed suit with a notable lack of enthusiasm as the two crewmen began their walk up the wooden bridge to the ship's main deck.

"Oh, and Evals?" Natani politely asked as the dog trekked up the bridge.

"Yeah, what?" he acknowledged over the ship's railing, tired and aloof.

Natani tried his best to look innocent for his next statement. "How was the match last night?"

"No, don't!" Mike tried to intervene, in an attempt to end the ensuing conversation before it had a chance to begin. But he was too late.

"It was horrible! A total embarrassment!" Evals yelled with fervor over Zen's all-but-maniacal laughter. "We had it, we had it in our hands, and we threw it, dammit Natani! We threw it hard! Then once the second half ended..."

"He gets very, very sore about this kind of stuff," Mike explained to Natani over Evals' rant, in a much cooler tone comparatively. "Long story short, Blackwood forced extra time and won it in PKs. It was a good match objectively."

" _And an even better one_ sub _jectively,_ " Zen pointed out.

"I'll take him downstairs and we'll get the ship prepped after," Mike continued calmly, almost as if these outbursts were common enough to the point where they could be disregarded. "Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," he reassured Natani as he began to gently escort the livid dog down below the main deck.

" _I love you, Nat,_ " Zen charmingly stated, beaming for a second before something else caught his attention. " _Looks like Keith's headed back, by the way._ "

Natani turned his gaze away from the ship's now vacated deck back to the harbormaster, who was shaking hands with the Basitin, concluding their business. "You better head out then," he advised the older sibling. "Keith and I need to talk over a few more things. Alone."

" _Ah, indeed,_ " Zen complied. " _I think I have some work to do as well, now that I think about it. I'll get back to you later then, brother. Once you're through with your...private conversation._ "

Natani was not entirely comfortable with how Zen emphasized the penultimate word of that sentence, but waved it off and nodded slightly instead, and then mentally severed the connection as Zen's projection evaporated from against the fencepost. Keith finished approaching his newly commissioned ship and looked over the exterior. The hull of the Quantum appeared to be stained and polished elm from first glance, with steel rivets keeping her together. Actually, the blueprints weren't that deviant from the Na'Rella. Of course, the interior would be significantly roomier, simply due to the lesser number of required living quarters, but on the outside, it was difficult to find too many differences.

"So, what do you think?" Keith asked, hands in his pockets, silently satisfied with how the harbormaster set him up.

"If it floats, it'll work," Natani blankly remarked. He did not know much if anything about sailing, nor ships in general; that's what Keith hired the two soccer junkies for. As long as he wasn't getting wet, then the ship was doing its job.

"Mike and Evals are getting settled," Natani continued. "And it looks like the dockhands are wrapping up supplies as well. Once we move in, it shouldn't be long before we're headed home."

"Yeah," Keith nodded, almost nostalgically. "Home." His relations with the Basidian Isles could probably be best described as sinusoidal. First he was an outcast, then he was a hero, then he was a war criminal, then he was a general for a cabinet position that didn't even exist until he was appointed by the High King. It was one hell of a ride to say the very least, but that didn't make him any less of a Basitin, or that island any less a home.

He was lost in his thoughts about that island, his parents, and probably Alaric most of all. Nikolai Alaric, one of his oldest friends and allies. Keith probably wouldn't have cleared up his name or gotten to where he was without his help, and was hard to say he didn't think about him on a regular basis. He was master general for the king's court for the island as well, which effectively put him one step below the king's position on the authority chain. Admirable, yet Keith would probably never get accustomed to not calling him "sir" now that their ranks were evened.

"Oy, boss!" Mike waved at the Basitin, and it took Keith a few moments to realize that he was the one being addressed. Yet another nickname that he would never get used to, at least as far as this trip was concerned. "Meet us downstairs when you can, eh? Evals and I need to get a route straightened out."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Keith replied as the fox scampered back down below the main deck. Natani looked at him, puzzlingly. It's been a while since Keith had seemed so on edge, like he was holding something back, and Natani didn't like it that much.

"Everything okay?" he ventured.

"Just nerves, is all," Keith answered, quickly yet hesitantly. "Not sure what I'm so anxious over."

"You didn't do anything wrong, if that's what the concern is," Natani reassured, then made an intriguing inference. "Wait a minute, isn't this..."

"This'll be my first time back to the island," Keith finished, and Natani could have sworn he was fighting back a tear or two as he said this. "As an actual citizen."

Prince Clovis leaned back in his chair and exhaled audibly into his hands, allowing his frustrations to exit along with the air. He reopened his eyes and glared at his tiger lieutenant across from his desk. Thom was not the right man to be angry at here, and Clovis was well aware of that. And yet this is the fourth, no,  _fifth_  time this week he had delivered this sort of news, that his operatives have been killed on job, and not at Templar hands either. Or any sort of government for that matter. Sanctioned hits he could handle; he had plenty of spies in the Wolf tribe's governing bodies for exactly that sort of emergency. But this,  _this_  was personal: An economic attack of sorts, and that sort of affront was absolutely unacceptable in his book.

"At the very least tell me that they did not go unidentified," Clovis seethed, his deepened breathing not helping to any great extent. "At least say we know who they are."

"I'm sorry, sir, but our source says their faces were covered," Thom reported with dissatisfaction. Professionalism aside, he was probably just as angry as Clovis was at this time, perhaps even more so. This was a basic heist, almost fundamental, and yet his best operatives continued to be killed by an unknown organization time and again. He probably held more responsibility than the prince did come to think of it; why would he need two master thieves to pick a simple lock, hijack a set of valuable jewelry and then practically dance out of the back door of the store when he could gotten almost the same result with a few peons? What was he possibly thinking?

* * *

 

"Small details, Thom," Clovis continued to press for information impatiently. "Eye color, fur pattern, favorite drink, give me something!"

"Judging from the fur tone and ears, it looks like the hit men were wolves too," the tiger reported. "I have some of my men digging through our past contracts. Maybe we got on someone's nerves."

"You don't say!" Clovis sarcastically and quietly spouted off as he stood up and flipped the red hood of his cape off his head. "I don't have issues with other guilds running heists in our districts; that's just business and it happens. I take it personally when they begin to directly interfere with my projects, Thom."

"I feel your pain, sir," the tiger responded, blandly yet empathetically. "And I promise I will get to the bottom of this."

"And I'm sure you will," Clovis added, turning to the window behind the desk, gazing out on the night sky and the wolf city's illumination. "Tomorrow I want you to scout out every district of this city, and I need to know exactly what is going on with these hits. Maybe some of our friends have had similar issues."

"Where would you like me to start, sir?"

"Try our contacts at the Red Arrow house first. They've always been good to us, one of our more loyal patrons at that as well. See what they have to tell you."

"I'll get to work on it, sir," Thom acknowledged and began to exit Clovis' office. "I'll take my leave then. Have a good night, sir," he politely said as he pulled the large doors to the office open.

"I'll try," Clovis sighed to himself as he heard the gentle  _click_  of the latch sliding back into place.

Tonight was quiet. An oddity in this city to be sure, but Clovis tried to enjoy them when and where he could. It was a good time to...reset mentally. Clovis loved being in control, probably one of the larger reasons he ran one of the most successful organized crime circles in the Western Forests. But he viewed his profession like a chess match, where even the best minds can become exhausted quickly without proper respite. And after a long day of bribing officials, forging documents and lifting heirlooms, this type of mental vacation was almost perfect for a crime lord.

But many things can break the immersion, and this recent development was just one of them. Clovis breathed heavily again and ran his hands through his very light tan, nearly white hair, trying to relieve some of his stress. He didn't mind the casualties as much as he should, it was what would follow after that scared him. His ring was all but untouchable, and if he couldn't carry out his operations, then his infrastructure would surely disintegrate shortly after. Clovis tried to kill that paralyzing thought quickly; something like that could keep him up for days on end.

At least, if the ring did crumble, he'd at least be able to slip into a mage guild of some sort, or find some other way to extort his magical capabilities. Being well-trained in the arts had its benefits, and that was actually how Clovis got most of his business done. Run into someone with a crisis only his magic could solve, put them in debt, have them work it off through heists and other various odd jobs, rinse and repeat. It almost never failed and was a surefire way to generate some easy cash under his name. Yet another item Clovis could never get enough of.

The half-fox, half-wolf's ears twitched as he heard the doors to his office reopening, followed shortly by Thom's voice. "Forgive the intrusion, sir," he politely requested, holding the door open from the outside. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not in the slightest, my friend," Clovis answered, casually glancing at the tiger over his left shoulder. "What is it?"

"Asking only for safety reasons, but should I remove the job listings for tomorrow, at the risk of losing more men?"

"No, leave them up," Clovis quickly answered, mentally appending,  _As if I would authorize a plan to cut profits_. "But if anybody takes one, send a two or three-man security detail with them. I like to protect my investments." He paused to think for a way to incentivize this sort of impromptu escort for his underlings. "Cut them in...five percent of the guild's take, each." Any more than that and he'd have to sit down in panic.

"Absolutely, sir," Thom complied. "Good night, sir."

"You as well," Clovis returned, but then he raised an eyebrow as he more thoroughly inspected his lieutenant. "Actually, Thom, would you approach me for a second before you leave?"

The tiger looked confusedly at his employer as he shut the door and obeyed, stepping forward to about the same spot he was previously. "What is it, sir?"

"I could have sworn that..." Clovis started, gesturing to his face, below the eye. But he then waved it off and turned back to his window. "Never mind, it was nothing."

"Sir?"

"You're welcome to correct me, but it's your face, Thom. For the longest time, I thought you had three stripes underneath your left eye. But now it looks like you have..."

"Two," came the response, in a voice that was definitely not the tiger's, but one Clovis recognized nevertheless. "You're more observant than I thought."

Clovis whirled around and was only half-surprised to see that Thom had disappeared from the room and that a wolf had taken his place. He was dressed in a black hooded shirt and was in the process of tossing a depleted mana crystal off to the side of the office. His face was stern and powerful, and Clovis identified the intruder immediately as the crystal skittered across the wood floor.

* * *

 

"Hello, Clovis," Zen blankly greeted the prince.

Chapter 4

The room was dead silent for a full two minutes if not more as Zen and Clovis simply stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first action. It has been far too long since their last encounter, and Zen was ardently trying not to break that streak. Until recently, of course. He still passionately despised Clovis as a person, and if it could have been anyone else it would have. But this was an exception to say the least, as much as he would hate to admit it, and so, here he was.

Clovis began to slowly reach for the mechanical switch underneath his desk for security, trying hard not to let Zen notice. "I'd ask how you got in here, but I'm not sure if that's relevant now," he tried to talk the assassin down as his hand inched closer to the switch.

Zen saw through the ploy almost instantly, and suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Clovis' eyes widened as they darted around the office in a brazen attempt to figure out where he could have gone, until a tight choke hold from behind answered the question for him. It was at this time he also noticed a steel gauntlet strapped around Zen's right arm, a slick, slender blade protruding from underneath and pointed downward just above Clovis' collarbone.

"Nice blade," Clovis nonchalantly noted. This wasn't the first time he had been threatened in his career, and he had become rather resilient to the intimidation tactic as a result.

"Gift from Natani," Zen elaborated, unmoved by Clovis' unwillingness to take this situation seriously. "You try and screw around at all and it goes right into your heart. Understood?"

"You're not going to kill me, Zen. Not yet at least."

"Give me a reason not to," Zen forcefully stated, probing at Clovis' neck a couple times with the blade.

"If you wanted me dead, we wouldn't be talking right now. You need me for something, and only I know how to make it happen." Clovis turned his head slightly to better see eye-to-eye with the assassin. "Am I not correct?" he asked for confirmation, even though he was sure he didn't need it.

Zen continued to glare at the half-fox for a moment, then retracted the blade back into the gauntlet with a slight  _slick_  and relinquished his hold. "Someone's after Natani," Zen explained as he slowly paced back to the other side of the desk Clovis had just collapsed onto.

"How dreadful," Clovis dryly replied, catching his breath again. "Seriously, if you need my help, you're going to need a better reason than that."

"I thought you'd say something like that," Zen confessed, still fixated on Clovis.

"Then why bring it up?" Clovis inquired intently. "You forget that you lost almost all favor with me after that debacle at the masquerade. She had one target for that entire job. It was a simple in-and-out, and even she managed to gum it up."

"You gave us bad intelligence on that job to begin with, Clovis, and you know it!" Zen started to shout, but then quieted himself, relaxed and continued after a sigh. "Look, that was a long time ago, and that's not what this is about. You're a man of business from what you've shown me. So let's just do that: talk business."

Clovis went silent for a few moments and then reclined back in his chair. "I'm listening, but you're not off to the best of starts," he replied, tapping the tips of his fingers together.

Zen mentally sighed with relief. It worked. Clovis would not be an easy guy to work with, but simply getting him to listen to the issue was a victory itself. He cleared his mind and began relating the tale. "My brother works as an escort for..."

"Sister, Zen," Clovis interrupted, eyes closed with disdain. "Let's be literal here."

Zen shot Clovis a stare of contempt before continuing. "...as an escort for a Basitin diplomat, and he was recently attacked by a wolf war band in the area. They weren't injured, however, and the war band was entirely eliminated."

"This story had better get interesting soon," Clovis interjected again, trying to get to the root of this proposal. "So they bumped into a group of bandits, oh dear. Why do I care?"

"They were a hit squad," Zen explained, and Clovis' ears perked up from a previously flat position. "Someone hired these thugs to find them and put them down, and from what I've heard from Natani, they're pretty close by."

"Intrigue..." Clovis said, smiling slightly as his attention was now fully restored.

"From what one of the dying bandits told Natani, these guys are pretty far underground. Highly secretive, agents everywhere, nobody knows they even exist, but I have to stop them before they can get to Natani again. So what I need you to do..."

"You want to put my spies to work," Clovis finished.

Zen nodded slightly. "So what do you think?"

"I think that, as remarkable as this little conundrum is, you lost me as a friend quite some time ago, Zen," Clovis retorted, still wearing that devious grin Zen had come to loathe with time. "Information has become a very pricy commodity and I tend to charge high for these types of jobs. Stop me if I'm wrong, but I don't think even you can provide the funds I need to get this done. So much as I enjoyed this little talk, I can't help you with this."

Zen's stare narrowed as Clovis reached underneath his desk again. "Now, if you'd excuse me..."

"I know about the assassinations, Clovis," Zen coolly interrupted, and Clovis froze momentarily as his hand hovered over the security switch. "I know you're losing agents left and right, someone is muscling in on your turf."

"How do you know about that?" the half-fox sternly demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Is that important?" Zen returned, not bothering to allot time for an answer. "Here's my proposition. You're right; I don't have the cash to pay you. But I can do something better. The way I see it, you'd be doing me a huge favor by finding this intelligence for me. So I'd like to do you one."

"Where exactly are you going with this?" Clovis asked, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"It's straightforward, really," Zen succinctly elaborated. "You tell me whatever you can about my organization, and I'll put down whoever's pulling the strings on those hits of yours."

Clovis raised an eyebrow as he took in the terms of this agreement, but then closed his eyes and smirked again. "You know you're not the only assassin in the world, Zen. I could hire anybody else and get practically the same result."

"That they'd all be dead?" Zen fired back sharply, causing the devious smile to drop quickly from Clovis' face in favor of a more surprised look. "These guys are smart from what I've collected. They're perceptive. As soon as they smell a rat, they're going to jump on it, and your new hire's as good as dead." He paused momentarily to let that sink in, and then concluded. "If you want to find this guy and get him out of the way, you know that I'm the only one who can make it happen. Much like you're the only one who can find this info for me."

Zen walked forward and leaned on the desk, looking Clovis right in the eyes with intensity. "Clovis, as much as I hate you, I need to find out who these guys are as quickly as possible. I took a damn big risk coming here for your help, and all I'm asking is for you to do the same."

Clovis stared down Zen in a similar fashion, and the room once more fell silent. At least until Clovis started laughing, but not maniacally or maliciously like Zen had been accustomed to. This actually appeared somewhat genuine, and Zen was slightly taken back by it. "This is spectacular, nothing short of it!" Clovis exclaimed during his recovery. "My, my, Zen. I had no idea you could be so persuasive."

"I'm going to take this as a yes, then."

Clovis continued speaking, not bothering to address that remark. "I already have some of my associates digging through whatever we have. Not to degrade their efforts but it will take some time before we hit a lead on our mystery assailant. I'll have one of them meet you when that happens."

"And my info?" Zen pressed.

"Well, I have to incentivize this meeting somehow, now don't I?" Clovis rhetorically asked, smirking again and cocking an eyebrow. "Don't worry, you'll be getting whatever snippets of intelligence I can dig up as I find them, but only if I know you're holding up your end as well. You do your part, I'll do mine."

"Fine, then," Zen agreed. He didn't expect anything less from Clovis, provided how stingy and paranoid he was. The terms were acceptable, or at the very least, as good as they were going to get. "What else do you need from me?"

"I'm going to need a way to contact you indirectly while we're working together, so I'll be intruding on that little link between you and your sister every now and again with the updates. I'm sure you won't mind."

"Natani might, though. How would you do that anyways?"

"You forget that I installed that mental link to begin with," Clovis stated, matter-of-factly, gently tapping the side of his forehead. "My magic, my rules. So she's going to have to get accustomed to hearing me. Again."

Zen exhaled audibly as he remembered that little feature. He hadn't seen it in use much after his previous contract ended with the half-fox, but Clovis did use it on a regular basis during that time. The request to use it again seemed almost unnecessary, superficial somewhat. Maybe it was simply out of courtesy, seeing as how he hadn't accessed it in a while.

"I'll let her know tomorrow," Zen said as he began to turn towards the door, then paused and turned back to the crime lord. "I just want you to know, I still don't trust you."

"Nor do I you. But alas, that's how business is done. It starts with no trust, and it gradually accumulates. Here, I'll begin," Clovis offered as he shut his eyes, rested his elbows on the desk and placed two fingers on each temple. A brief silence ensued, then he relaxed his arms and reopened his eyes.

"And, what was that?" Zen asked with confusion.

"That was me telepathically telling my security detail to not be alarmed when you walk out those doors. Through a mental link similar to yours. This is your first test, my friend. How confident are you about leaving this area without getting their attention?"

Zen was not particularly fond of how that question was worded, but the message was perfectly clear. Clovis seemed almost too enthusiastic about this job. So either he had something up his sleeve, or he was really pleased that someone had come to fix one of his larger problems. Either way, Zen decided to play along.

"I'll keep you posted," Zen answered as he strode towards the office exit. Or, at least he was until Clovis interrupted him again.

"Oh, and one final thing, Zen," he called to the assassin. "In regards to Thom. Please tell me you didn't outright kill him?"

Zen opened the door and noticed the guards on either side standing perfectly still, looking at Zen without interest or intent, and then staring back at the far wall.

"You'll see him tomorrow," Zen replied over his shoulder as he formally exited the office.

* * *

 

Natani was actually impressed somewhat at the fluidity of this expedition. Already they were two days into the trip and so far there was not anything too negative to speak of. Well, actually the deck activities of Mike and Evals tended to be on the noisier side, which they explained by saying that sea shanties were for morale more than anything, and that it didn't matter if they were off-key more than were on and couldn't keep time with a watch. The sea enjoyed hearing music, Evals argued, and it didn't matter how badly it sounded objectively. The soul was there, and that was all that mattered.

Still though, it would have been nice for them to create some harmony together. So Natani tried to look for other aspects of the trip to enjoy in the place of peace and quiet. At least the scenery was quite nice, despite being numbed slightly by Evals and his staunch refusal to wear a shirt while on duty. Natani wasn't sure if that plain, medium grey short-sleeve he always wore on the Na'Rella was supposed to be uniform under Eric's command, and apparently that was no longer relevant. While Mike didn't mind sporting the article while he was operating the ship, the dog conversely seemed perfectly content without one, grey or otherwise.

Natani couldn't say it was unconventional however, especially since the concept of dignity amongst Keidran was considered optional more so than obligatory. As a direct result, half-dressed Keidran were a relatively common sight in almost any society, and that was doubly so when working in hard labor. There was actually a simple anthropological reason behind this behavior. Since Keidran did not have the luxury of possessing sweat glands, they had cool themselves using other methods.

And in the case of Evals, those methods included disrobing and, as if the cacophony of his horrid singing wasn't bad enough, panting. After a good session of lifting, running and heavy work in general, Evals made it a point to sit down, preferably next to Natani somewhere for a reason she could not discern, and rapidly, heavily breathe next to her for a few minutes, while Natani stared down at him quizzically. The strange part about this little routine was that Evals looked quite content doing what the wolf would have just considered a menial job. He would simply stare out at the ship, smiling, tongue hanging out, almost as if he wouldn't be anywhere else.

And Evals wouldn't have had it any other way. Mike was right on the money when he called him a sea dog, and that was mostly because there was something...liberating about it. At sea, Evals wasn't required to anything he didn't want to or be anywhere except on deck or in his quarters. Sure, those niceties were somewhat diminished while he was "working" with Eric, but the essence never dried. Evals loved being at sea, plain and simple.

And as long as the dog was having a good time, Mike found it hard to not feel the same. Mike considered himself lucky, despite his wholly worrisome nature. He was lucky that he managed to be on board with someone like the Grand Templar to buy his freedom. He was lucky that the effects of that dastardly Basitin curse were not permanent. But above everything else, he was lucky that he bumped into Evals during his time in the cuffs. Being born into slavery was a background Mike would not wish upon his worst enemies, and before he was picked up by Eric and first acquainted with Evals the fox was plagued by loneliness almost perpetually. What friends he did have prior came and went at the bang of a gavel, and his life felt nothing short of broken by consequence. Evals was the Keidran who fixed that feeling, and although he had been in his fair share of scrapes with and against his best friend, it didn't alter the fact that they were still best friends.

As if it wasn't evident enough already on the deck of the Quantum, where the fox had just finished tying off a length of rope and started enthusiastically swinging his arms in time with the song he and Evals were currently belting out. Natani, sitting down against the cabin wall a few feet away, was currently holding her hands over her ears, disdainfully glancing at Mike, who looked like he was drunkenly conducting the most off-key chorus line on the high seas. At least it sounded like the current number was coming to an end.

" _...when the saints come mar-ching iiiiiin!_ " came the final line of the shanty, followed by a hearty "URA!" as the two pumped their fists into the air and then laughed as they walked across deck to the water barrel. Mike poured some of the liquid out of one of the two nearby canteens onto his head, using a hand to wipe it around, while Evals leaned against the railing, looking out at the sea and happily panting away.

Mike innocuously glanced at Natani as the water dripped off his forehead and onto his dark grey shirt. "Still have that headache, Natani?" he inquired kindly. He and the wolf were not particularly close, but that didn't make him any less concerned for her welfare.

Natani decided not to beat around the bush on this one, but the least she could do was make an attempt at humor. "You two could stand for a couple singing lessons, I'll say that," she answered, slightly grinning and warming up to the sailors somewhat.

"Yeah, we'd be employed as entertainers if we did," Evals pointed out as Mike handed the canteen to him. "And we wouldn't have the pleasure of shipping you and Keith off to the Isles again."

"Fair enough," Natani shrugged as Evals took a quick drink of water. She almost felt her throat dry a bit watching the dog imbibe the fluid, and decided to do something about it. "Hey, Mike, think I could get a drink also?"

The fox nodded in response and picked up the second canteen. "Heads up," he called as he tossed it to the wolf, who easily caught it one-handed. Natani nodded a thank you in response as she flipped open the lid and went for a moderately long drink, and then flinched slightly as the sharp  _snap_ of a rope splitting came from the port side of the deck. She casually looked over and saw the now loose end flailing about in the wind, completely deteriorated and separated at the end.

"Ugh, beautiful," Mike sighed as he set the canteen down and began walking towards the stairs leading below deck. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Not going to tie that back off?" Natani asked, with slight curiosity.

"Not like that, no," Evals explained, turning around and gesturing at the frayed rope in a conceding manner. "We need to fuse that if we don't want it to happen again, so Mike's going to grab a knife and some matches first."

Natani stared at the rope for a second or two, then set her canteen down and approached it, unsheathing the knife fastened around her belt. "Actually, Mike, take a seat. Let me take a look at this," she said as she grabbed the rope and began cutting away the frayed section.

"What exactly are you thinking on doing?" Mike inquired, somewhat intrigued by the wolf's action.

"You'll see," Natani answered ambiguously as the knife finished slicing through the rope. Natani replaced it in the sheathe and then fished around in her pants pocket for a second before removing a small mana crystal. She brought it to the severed rope and its original anchor point and, holding the crystal between her thumb and forefinger, muttered a word of power neither the fox nor dog could decipher. They did however notice the rope beginning to mend itself, the fibers fusing back together and weaving back into its original state. The blue crystal faded into clear transparency as Mike gawked at the spectacle. He was well aware that Natani knew a good share of magic, but he assumed the majority of it was for illusion and destruction, stealth and combat. This was a new one for him, and he was amazed at the result.

"Good Gods...," was all he could say as Natani terminated the spell and flung the now depleted crystal into the sea.

The wolf plucked at the repaired, reinstalled rope a couple times to double check her work. "I think that'll hold," she remarked casually as she walked back towards the two stupefied Keidran, and leaned on the banister between them, arms crossed with satisfaction.

There was a pause afterwards, just long enough to be considered awkward, and Natani's eyes curiously shifted between the two sailors, confused as to what made that particular incantation so special. "What? Have you two never seen a mending spell before or something?" she finally asked.

Mike and Evals immediately looked at Natani in response, their expressions almost instantly changing from amazed to excited. "You  _have_  to show us how to do that!" Mike exclaimed, beaming with exuberance.

"That trick is going to save us a ton of time in the future!" Evals joined in and clapped a hand on Natani's shoulder, his tail wagging at a blurred pace.

Natani was stunned momentarily by the dramatic change of atmosphere, but managed to respond after forcibly creating some personal space by way of prying herself free of Evals' grasp. "First off, calm down. This is  _not_  the first time you've seen my spell casting."

That statement did little to deter Mike's bedazzlement. "It's the first time we saw that one! How long have you known how to do that?"

"A couple weeks, actually," Natani answered, almost ashamed by that fact. "I only stumbled upon this one..."

"That's perfectly fine!" Evals shouted out. "Spell's a spell! How do you do it?"

"It's technical, and by that I mean..."

"A lot of words?" Mike interjected.

"No, it's..."

"Eats a lot of mana?" Evals inquired.

"Shaddap!" Natani barked, but caught herself immediately after and settled down. Thankfully Mike and Evals were not taken too far back by that outburst. "It just requires a lot of studying to perform is all."

"What do you mean by that?" Mike asked, slightly confused.

"I'll show you," Natani answered as she probed her pocket again for another mana crystal. "Mike, hold out your canteen and say the word 'Aquamentis' for me."

Mike complied, grabbing the canteen and extending his arm. "Aquamentis!" he spoke authoritatively, his mood slightly dampened by the albeit expected result: nothing.

Natani then flipped him the mana crystal, and the fox caught it in his left hand. "Try it again," she commanded.

Mike repeated the word of power. "Aquamentis," he stated, almost as if he was trying to coax the water out of the canteen, again to no avail. "Still nothing," he sighed with a slight tone of defeat.

"Didn't think so. Toss me back the crystal," Natani ordered, and Mike threw the blue crystal underhandedly at the wolf. She then held it in her hand, between the middle two fingers, held it in front of her and spoke the word of power herself.

"Aquamentis!" she yelled, and the mana crystal began to shine in her hand as the water began to snake out of the neck of the canteen and amass in a globe about two meters above the ground. Evals and Mike both looked up at the sphere in a mix of curiosity and bewilderment. Under normal circumstances they probably would not have paid this spell any mind; it was just water manipulation after all. Natani had done something similar on the Na'Rella. But now that their interest was piqued regarding the spell's inner workings, there seemed to be more depth to it. It was no longer some sort of mystical power for the Templar and a select few Keidran. They could do it, and they had the tools to learn it. The prospects were astronomical.

"Have you figured it out yet?" Natani asked, still channeling the spell. She was actually enjoying this somewhat, in a teacher-student sort of way, and now she potentially had something to pass time that didn't involve sparring with Keith or just flat boredom.

Mike managed to break free from the mesmerizing globe for long enough to answer. "I think I have it," he said, slowly deciphering the reason for his failures. "You gave the materials, but I didn't know what to do with them."

"Exactly, and that's what the studying is for," Natani confirmed. "You can have all the mana in the world, but without an idea of how to channel it, it's worthless. In fact..."

Natani was about to continue elaborating until a faint  _pop_  sound was heard, the signal that the crystal had fully expended its mana reserve. It was also the signal for the water globe to cease hovering and become subject to gravity once more, dousing Evals during its decent.

"Whoops," Natani silently, offhandedly remarked. She mentally prepared herself for the inevitable rant that was sure to follow, if her past experiences with Evals were anything to go by.

Instead, though, she received a relaxed, easy exhale from the dog, followed by the words, "That's nice." Evals grinned as the water's cooling effect began to take hold; finally, a good way to cool down.

"You know I'm not the world's best mage, right?" Natani asked, still not fully gripping Evals' reaction. "I mean, you guys know Trace, and where he is, for that matter. And he probably knows fifty times more about this than I do..."

"Who cares?" Mike asked back. "Magic is part experimentation, right? We just need to know where to start!" he exclaimed as Evals nodded in agreement.

"What exactly did I do to get you two so excited about this anyways?" Natani had to ask. It wasn't like Mike and Evals didn't know she had a rudimentary spell repertoire; they've actually seen it in action a few times as well. So what was so special about it this time around?

The fox and dampened dog looked at each other for a moment, as if deciding who should answer that, and then Mike turned his attention back to the wolf. "Frankly, I think we've been interested in it for a while."

"We just didn't have the time for it what with the sailing jobs and the pub," Evals continued.

"It'd definitely make our lives easier in some respects, though," Mike elaborated. "You don't have to show us everything, Natani. But we understand if you don't want to do it."

Natani was about to argue in favor of that last point, but in reality, turning them down for just basic spellcrafting lessons seemed cold, even for her. Natani hadn't completely warmed up to their antics, and they were right in that she was far from their ideal tutor for magical studies. She never formally instructed anyone in anything before, either, so her confidence was hampered a bit. But then again, these were the Keidran that almost unconditionally offered to sail her to and from the Isles twice now, and she never really had an opportunity to say thanks for that. Maybe this was as a good a time as any.

Mike could have sworn Natani was smiling a bit as she finally replied. "Meet me below deck in a half-hour, alright? I'll show you what I know."

* * *

 

Chapter 5

" _That's nice of you, Nat. Looks like you're making friends after all,_ " Zen warmly said as his projection manifested in between the two shipmen. His almost abrupt entrance caught the younger of the Magi Brothers completely off guard, and Natani jumped a bit.

"Gods, Zen! Let me know when you do that next time!" she reprimanded over the soft chortle of her brother's laughter.

Mike and Evals simply looked at each other blankly, almost staring through Zen. "This again," they said simultaneously. Natani had been in a very odd habit of speaking to this imaginary entity at almost completely random times ever since the Na'Rella expedition, and this all but convinced them that she was suffering from some sort of insanity.

Natani hastily tried to correct them. "I said it before, he's a mental projection! That's the only reason you two can't see him!"

"Look, Natani, talking to yourself is completely normal at times," Evals stated, almost like a therapist. "I mean, I do it sometimes myself to..."

Natani interrupted the counseling session early and jabbed a thumb in the direction of the stairs. "B Deck, both of you. I'll be there once this is over," she sternly barked, and the fox and dog skeptically obliged, still unconvinced of the veracity of Natani's explanation.

Mike followed Evals below deck, securing the hatch above him as he descended. Natani turned her attention back to Zen following the soft sound of the lock sliding into place. "Alright, Zen. What's going on this time?" she demanded, still not having fully forgiven the sudden mental intrusion.

" _I thought you'd want to know I'm looking into that hit squad you were talking about the day before._ "

Natani sighed and slowly shook her head. "Zen, why are you getting involved in this? This is my problem, let me and Keith deal with it."

" _That's exactly why I'm getting involved. If you're in danger, you know I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you're alright._ "

"I don't need any help for this," Natani assured. "Just back down and head home. You don't need to stick your neck out like this."

" _I don't. But I'm not going to feel safe until you are. Remember that incident with the archmage? The soul-eating curse? I'm not putting you through that again, Nat._ " Zen walked up to Natani slowly and placed a hand on her shoulder, affectionately. " _You're the only thing I really care about anymore, especially after the parents died. Just let me be the big brother, okay? It'll make me feel better._ "

Natani sighed again, still upset that Zen was getting involved in her affairs. But it was hard to press the issue anymore. Zen had a very valid point. The business of assassins had few drawbacks, but a lack of family tended to be one of them. The parents died when Natani and Zen were still pups, and that moment only served to highlight one critical fact: the two siblings needed each other. Zen was the only person Natani could ever depend on, talk to, or just reliably have around for emergencies, and in a way that served just to highlight how important Zen was to her.

The converse was just as true; Natani almost died as a result of the archmage incident. Soul-eating curses were not something that could be healed by conventional means, and had Zen not volunteered himself for the soul transfusion, Natani probably wouldn't be talking to him right now. The process was far from painless, but Zen put himself through it nevertheless. If that didn't qualify as a statement of how much Zen cared for her, then probably nothing would.

Natani looked back up at her brother after a pause. "Fine, you win," she said. "You can help out, if you can find some way to help out from over there."

Zen smiled and nodded in response. " _I can't do much physically, but what I can do is supply whatever information I can find. Wolf capital's a big city, I'm sure I'll find something useful._ "

At that point, Zen retracted his hand and began scratching the back of his head sheepishly. " _I, uh, might have also gotten someone else to help me as well._ "

"That's fine," Natani responded, unsure as to what Zen could be nervous about. Collaboration was just a part of the job, and it wasn't like the concept was completely foreign to Zen either. "So who is it?"

" _You're not going to like the answer..._ "

"Come on, Zen. Who are we working with?"

" _So I figured that, if I was going to do this, I'd need someone who can get information really quick without potentially alerting anyone on your scent. Or Keith's._ "

"Alright, and?"

" _Well...who can you think of, just off the top of your head, who lives in the capital, has enough agents to know everything that's happening in it, and is inherently suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him?_ "

Natani knew the answer to Zen's dodgy question, but took some time to stare at him hard for a few moments. "You didn't..." she said before a wave of interference tore through the mental link. Zen looked over his shoulder and Natani held her ears for a moment, as a second figure shimmered into view, with a noise that could be best described as metal grinding against stone. The mental image was scrambled, with bits of the projection flying every which way and most color neutralized into a black and grey mess, but Natani could make out a caped Keidran standing and leaning against the water barrel on deck.

" _You must be Natani, then,_ " the image spoke, the voice distorted beyond oral recognition, low-pitched and grumbling. " _I would be your brother's contact._ "

Natani stared at the projection, unimpressed by the attempt to conceal identity. "Oh, now that's cute," she sarcastically, flatly noted.

Zen looked at the projection in a similar manner, almost pitifully in a way. " _Clovis, get rid of the damn voice mod and jamming spells, alright?_ " he requested as he disappointedly slipped his face into his hand. " _We know who you are._ "

" _So much for anonymity, then,_ " the half-fox cynically remarked as his projection shimmered into a higher level of detail and his voice faded back into his more natural tone: a few octaves higher but still unnervingly sinister. " _You grew your hair back out, Natani. It looks nice,_ " he chided in a more personal but no more amicable tone.

"You hired Clovis," Natani observed, annoyed just by the fact that he was still relevant in anyone's life, let alone hers and Zen's. "Zen, why in the world would you ever..."

" _Now, Nat, I know what you're thinking,_ " Zen tried to justify his decision." _And you're right, he can be a pain to work with..._ "

" _She thinks_ everyone _is a pain to work with._ "

" _Can it, foxy!_ " Zen snapped, then turned back to Natani. " _But he runs probably the biggest spy ring on the continent right now, and from what you've told me, he's probably the best shot we have at finding these guys._ "

"Did it  _have_ to be him, though?" Natani demanded, finding her brother's choice of contact extremely questionable. "You know what he did to us the last time we tried working with him?"

" _Zen has decided to put all of that behind us for now, girl,_ " Clovis clarified, a touch too condescendingly for Natani's tastes, or anyone else's for that matter. " _After all, seeing as how you're over there and everything's happening over_ here _, I don't think I'll need to pester you nearly as often as you think._ "

" _Yeah, think about it like that,_ " Zen encouraged, glad to hear that Clovis was going to be leaving Natani alone for the most part. " _This is just a friendly intel hunt around the city. I don't expect Clovis will try anything, if it makes you feel better._ "

"The joke here is that you used the words 'Clovis' and 'expect' in the same sentence," Natani grumbled after a small exhale of disbelief. Clovis found that amusing slightly and snickered a bit.

" _Now don't be like that, little brother. I know what I'm doing,_ " Zen tried to reassure with a slight grin. " _And besides, it turns out foxboy here has a little problem he needs my help with as well._ "

" _Somebody is after my spies, as it turns out,_ " Clovis added. " _And your brother has offered to put an end to that._ "

" _So even if he did decide to bump me off, he loses business, workers and almost all of his infrastructure,_ " Zen finished, and Clovis grimaced more and more as Zen rattled off everything the half-fox had to lose. " _So you see, Nat? It's mutually beneficial. We have no reason to backstab the other here._ "

Natani went quiet again, intensely glaring at Clovis. He was trusted by nobody, and that was mostly due to the reverse of that statement. Clovis left nothing to chance when it came to his operations, and that made him paranoid as a result. He never assumed that his jobs would ever go according to plan, so that meant he took strict, invasive, nearly insane precautions when it came to monitoring and contacting his assets. That included installing backdoors in almost every mental link he created between his agents, the Magi Brothers included.

Well, technically, they were more debtors back then. Once Clovis managed to dispel Natani's curse and repair the damage with part of Zen's soul, the brothers ended up working off their payment, and Clovis tried his best at almost every point to exploit them in some way. Natani abhorred the crime lord ever since then, and Zen had to have felt similarly when he first came to him. They were not friends in any way, plain and simple.

And Natani decided to emphasize that point while she still could. She approached Clovis slowly until she stood face-to-face, expressionlessly staring down the mage. "You listen to me carefully, Clovis..." she hissed.

" _If this is going where I think it is, then let me assure you I have no intentions of harming your brother,_ " Clovis calmly interrupted, showing no signs of intimidation. " _He's right. I can't betray him because if I do, my business collapses and I get exposed._ "

"Why can't I believe you?"

" _To quote your brother, he took a risk coming to me for my spies, and I took a risk trusting him to kill my hitman. If that doesn't tell you something about our relation, then I'm not sure what will._ " Clovis paused for a moment before continuing. " _We don't have to get along for this contract, Natani, and, to be completely candid, I'd be quite surprised if we did. Though I will say that I need your cooperation if this is going to work._ "

Clovis extended a hand towards the younger Magi Brother, almost like a peace offering of sorts. " _So, what do you say? Want to join us?_ "

Natani stared at Clovis' hand for a moment, thinking hard about the half-fox's words. She looked back up at him shortly after. "If  _anything_  happens to Zen..." she began.

" _I will teleport you directly to my residence and you can assassinate me in person,_ " Clovis offered, grinning slightly, almost sinisterly. " _How's that for a deal?_ "

Another stare down ensued, and the ship went completely quiet. Natani glared at Clovis, while he simply glanced casually at the wolf. Natani continued to work through the half-fox's dealings as the silence approached an almost unbearably tense time interval.

And was then broken by a soft  _clap_  as her hand met with his.

* * *

 

"So you went through with it, eh?" Keith asked as he warded off an incoming strike from the quarterstaff with his own.

"Didn't have much of a choice in the matter, frankly," Natani remarked, flipping her staff over and reposting with the other end. "I'm putting Zen in danger by letting him do this, but he was right when he said Clovis is the fastest way to figure out who these guys are."

"Have I ever met your brother before?" Keith inquired as he near effortlessly struck away the wolf's follow-up.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you haven't," Natani began to answer. She slipped her hands down on the staff and took a wild, two-handed swing at the Basitin's legs. One simple jump was all that was needed to avoid the attack.

"He's essentially everything I'm not," Natani continued, expertly avoiding each of Keith's blows as he delivered them. "Outgoing, personable, not nearly as serious..."

"Unless he needs to, of course (nice parry, by the way)."

"Yeah, unless he needs to (and thanks). He's protective more than anything, though, and that's what gets him into trouble."

"You know he'd probably make the same argument about you, right?" Keith pointed out as he continued his offensive, backing Natani up and almost off of the practice mat entirely.

Natani paused slightly to check her footing, said, "Fair enough," and then gave the Basitin a light kick to the mid-section to break the combo. Keith staggered backwards a bit, and now it was time for the wolf to attack.

"But he's also overconfident, almost to the point of arrogance. And that's why I'm worried," Natani added through her chain of strikes.

"If you're anything to go by, just one assassination should be within his capabilities," Keith stated in between dodges.

"That isn't what I'm worried about," Natani said, her voice steadily accumulating focused adrenaline. The blows were becoming harder to avoid by the second.

"Alright, then. So where's the issue?" Keith inquired, becoming slightly worried at how this conversation was going now.

"I don't  _trust_  Clovis any  _more_  than I can  _throw_  that  _gaudy_  red  _cape_  of his," Natani answered, emphasizing each word with her outgoing strikes.

"Easy, Natani," Keith tried to calm the wolf as he ducked under another swing of the quarterstaff. "What happened before between you two is in the past. You need to let it go for now, and focus..."

Keith was interrupted by a sharp jolt of pain in his lower abdomen as Natani finally landed a blow on him. He doubled over, holding his staff weakly in front of him, and looked up just long enough to see the wolf strike his upper chest. Between shots, the Basitin had just enough time to see that his sparring partner seemed almost overcome entirely by rage. The attacks were no longer disciplined or planned; they were blows of pure hatred, and Natani was channeling all of it.

"I am never...forgiving..." Natani huffed. Keith started to lay down the quarterstaff and surrender the match. Or at least he was until Natani swung at him again, the staff biting into the right side of his rib cage.

"...that  _half_..." Natani rammed the staff into Keith's stomach again.

"... _bred_..." Natani then flipped the staff upwards, catching Keith squarely on the chin.

"... _BASTARD!_ " she finally yelled as she slipped her hands to the base of the staff again, and connected a hard swing onto the Basitin's left leg, completely debasing Keith and additionally shattering the wooden pole in half. Keith landed on his back and grunted audibly as the liberated section of the staff clattered onto the wooden floor and almost rolled out into the hallway.

Natani started breathing heavily, trying to regain her composure, eyes looking downward, still tightly gripping the remains of the weapon. Keith laid on his back for a few more moments, still stunned by the sudden outrage of attacks that had just bombarded him. He eventually sat himself up on his elbows and looked at the wolf, still trying to cool down.

"Where in the hell did that come from, Natani?" he demanded, but not reprimanding sort of tone. More of a friendly, concerned mood prevailed instead.

Natani finally looked up at Keith, and was immediately taken back by what had just happened. She threw the staff off to the side and instinctively ran up to Keith to help him back up. "Gods, Keith. I'm sorry about that..." she tried to apologize as she held out a hand.

Keith grabbed it and pulled himself back to his feet. "How about we hold off sparring until you've had a few minutes," he suggested as he dusted off his blue training shirt. "You really do not like Clovis that much, do you?"

"He's a horrible person, Keith, no matter how much Zen tries to convince me he's on our side."

Keith started to walk the wolf towards the warm-up bench. "Look, Nat, I don't know a lot about Clovis and what he does with his agents apart from what you've told me, but if Zen is convinced he's making the right call trusting him, you should believe you are as well."

Natani sighed and collapsed onto the bench, almost exhausted. "There is a long history between us and that half-wolf, and not a lot of it's pretty."

"What about it?" Keith said as he sat down next to his friend. "It's a completely new contract, and it sounds like the terms were hammered out without too much drama. To me, that's a good thing."

"Clovis exploits, Keith. I don't care how strict Zen was, he will find a loophole and he will make the most of it. That's just how he is."

Keith went silent for a moment to contemplate his response. "I can't tell you how to prepare for that, or tell you that he'll even do it. What I will say is that, if you're that skittish around him and his words, then listen to him."

"So you're telling me to believe him, even though everything he's done up to this point has led me to do the opposite," Natani concluded.

"But," Keith added. "Make sure he's keeping his word, whether you check it personally or Zen does it for you. The best way to work with your enemy is to hold him accountable."

Natani exhaled and looked across the room at the fractured quarterstaff from earlier. "Keith, you know I have trust issues."

Keith grinned a bit in response. "Sure, but that didn't stop you and me from being good friends."

"Hey, you're different, alright?" Natani clarified, eyeing the Basitin skeptically.

"Really now," Keith answered with disbelief.

"For one, you didn't try to work me and Zen to the bone just to get some extra gold in your pocket."

"Good point," Keith shrugged. "But then I'll say you also tried to shoot me the first time we met."

"We wouldn't be having this conversation if I didn't."

"Still tried to shoot me."

"Sod off," Natani playfully responded and gave Keith a light shove. A small pause ensued, and the wolf spoke again. "I'll...I'll keep an eye on Clovis, just play along with what he says. If Zen thinks he won't screw with us, then I don't think he will either."

Keith nodded again and stood up from the bench. "Sounds good," he stated and began walking back to the padded practice floor. "Should we get back to work? Unarmed this time?"

Natani smiled and followed. "I'm down. And, thanks, Keith."

"No problem, Nat," Keith responded over his shoulder as he took his mark on the mat. Natani did the same on the opposing side.

"Incidentally," Keith added as he put his fist towards Natani, who bumped it back to start the match. "How are Mike and Evals doing?"

"Regarding what?" Natani asked as she shuffled towards Keith, guarding her face.

"From what I heard, you're going to show them a couple magic tricks," the Basitin explained as he parried a right hook away from his chest.

"Tricks only work once, Keith. I'm showing them spells," Natani corrected. "And, they're actually doing alright."

"What are they up to?"

"Not much, but they're really, really eager about it," Natani elaborated as she threw a few more punches. "I left them a few books to look at while we're down here. And a pretty decent mana reserve too."

"You're not concerned about anything?" Keith inquired, dodging a blow to his head and countering. "I mean, they're trainees essentially. You're not afraid of rebound or whatnot?"

Natani blocked Keith's counterattack as she replied, "It's okay, they're not even casting anything that volatile yet. Nothing that'll destroy the ship at least. Besides, what's the worst they can do at their skill level?"

* * *

 

Chapter 6

Zen formally resided on the outskirts of the wolf capital, and it was actually developed enough to the point where visits to the inner city were more of a luxury than necessity. Whenever he did venture through the more urbanized district, though, he made a point not to frequent the inner city's pubs, or at least not without friends. Apart from the subpar spirits they tended to serve and the below average bands they tended to showcase, their clientele left a good amount to be desired. They really only served as magnets for mercenaries, thugs, blades for hire... Actually, that criticism seemed a little hypocritical now that Zen thought on it. And this particular venue, a tavern named MacMillan's, was actually where he met a few of his most loyal contractors. The place also held memories of bar fights, terrible bands and close encounters with numerous undesirables, but professionally, entering the dimly lit bar again was a breath of rancid, stale, nostalgic air.

He wasn't technically alone, either. Zen pressed two fingers to side of his head, just beneath his vibrant, short brown hair. "Alright, foxboy. Who exactly am I looking for?" he spoke out loud. Over the clamor of loud conversation, clanking tankards and pounding drums, his transmission wouldn't draw any unwanted attention.

" _Again with the name calling, Zen?_ " Clovis' voice echoed back in Zen's head. The mage had created a small addition to the mental link that allowed communication without manifestation. Shortly, it allowed the two to talk to each other without a visual appearance to accompany it. Apparently, it was less prone to detection spells, but Zen didn't really believe that was true. On the lighter side, at least Clovis wouldn't provide any undue distractions, intentional or otherwise.

" _I mean, we are adults here after all,_ " Clovis continued. " _Let's treat each other as such._ "

"You fix things with Natani and we'll talk," Zen responded sternly. "Back to my contact."

" _He'll find you, my friend. Don't you worry,_ " came the reply, and even though Clovis tried to come off as calming, Zen felt everything but, like he was being herded in a way. " _In the meantime, put your hood up, find a table and order yourself a beer. You'll know him when you see him._ "

Zen sighed at how indirect this plan was and reluctantly drew the black hood of his shirt over his head. "I hope you know what you're doing, Clovis," he half-whispered as he moved towards a circular table in the corner of the room, by the establishment's front entrance.

" _Patience, Zen,_ " Clovis spoke back in an almost patronizing tone, one that Zen did not care for much. " _There is something waiting in the end for you._ "

Zen sat down and removed his hand from his head to cut the transmission. "What a prick," he grumbled to himself as he signaled for the bartender. Just because Clovis was on surveillance did not give him the right to treat him like a kid, but that was almost exactly what he was doing. Zen eventually came to realize that this was just a personality trait, and there wasn't much he could do about it, but that didn't make it any less irritating.

It had been a few days since he told Natani that Clovis was helping him find whoever was out for her. Zen wouldn't say that his relations with the spymaster had improved on a personal level, but at least he's been tolerable up until now. Clovis still harbored a few traits Zen could do without: the obsessive surveillance, the cryptic messages and meeting times, the almost always condescending way he spoke. Under any different circumstances Clovis would have still been just a small smear in his life, a black mark that he didn't care for but couldn't erase. Desperation called for drastic measures, however, and Zen really could not think of anyone better suited for the job. So Clovis' unlikable personality was just something he would have to work around.

On the brighter side, at least the cross-bred crime lord wasn't nearly as bland as some of Zen's previous contractors. Given the choice between an employer that honestly didn't care for Zen's well-being and remained aloof regarding the job, and one that habitually pestered him ensuring that everything was happening according to plan, then Zen would take the latter in a heartbeat. The assassin was actually glad that was the case this time around; Clovis took great care of his investments, ensuring that any ventures they decided to undertake didn't cost more than they produced. And it wasn't like his enigmatic persona was completely bad. If anything, Zen enjoyed the tension it produced, the mystery, the intrigue.

The more Zen tried to think on Clovis, the more he thought about Natani instead, and what she, no,  _he_ , would be doing if the roles were reversed. Would he have had the idea to see Clovis regarding this issue? Probably not; Natani was arguably the only person in the world who loathed Clovis more than Zen did. Even if there was a confrontation, it would not have ended on the best of terms. One if not both of them would be dead in all likelihood. Natani was never really good at making friends, Zen observed. Well, apart from Keith, but Zen practically knew something deeper was involved there, and as fun as it was to harass Natani about it, Zen did so sparingly with that in mind.

The barkeep, a vixen from the Coastal Fox tribe at roughly Zen's age, returned with Zen's beverage a few minutes later, and set it in front of the wolf on top of a paper coaster. Zen flipped her a 10-silver piece in thanks and went for a quick swig of the ale. And then he noticed something on the circular coaster as he lifted the clear glass mug: it was pristine, nearly flawless cursive, done boldly in red ink. Zen slid the coaster closer to him with his free hand and tried to make out the writing between drinks.

_Polar fox. Bandana. Left patch._

Zen wasn't nearly as intrigued by the information on the paper as much as he was by the thought of the currently overworked barkeep somehow being in on this little recon op, but he ignored it for now. The vixen walked by Zen's table again, nodding courteously and smiling gently as she served the table across the room. Zen responded with a small tug of his hood, and flipped the coaster over before resting the mug on it.

 _Well, he did say I'd know him when I saw him_ , he said to himself, leaning back in the chair and getting comfortable. It looked like he was going to have to wait. A throng of potential customers flooded through the doors as he did so, and for a second Zen nearly forgot that he still had to identify his contact. The only issue was that this particular pool of customers was flying past his table at an alarmingly quick pace. Zen had to maneuver himself in his chair in order to get good looks at some of the patrons near the back. Zen started to become increasingly worried at the prospect of this job ending before it really began as the crowd began to filter through the pub.

Another patron passed through the doors at the same time as well. It was not Zen's contact, if the coaster's profile was anything to go by, but he still caught the wolf's attention regardless. It was a Forest Wolf, much like Zen, except this one seemed to be much higher up in society, judging from his formal dress and appearance. Zen eyed the newcomer suspiciously through another swig of ale as the wolf took a seat directly at the bar. MacMillan's was in no sense of the word a noble man's tavern, and this one seemed very out of place as a direct result. His presence upset Zen's instincts, almost as if something bad was about to happen.

That feeling of paranoia was quickly done away with as another customer entered the tavern: a Keidran from the Polar Fox tribe, judging from the white fur and black "socks and gloves" pattern the foxes in general tended to exhibit. He was tall by fox standards, probably at least two or three inches higher than Zen. His outfit consisted of a cobalt blue hooded shirt, deep grey trousers, and a solid black bandana concealing his face from the nose down. Zen craned his neck and also noticed an eye patch covering his left eye and the vicinity, so that only the upper right quadrant of the fox's visage remained untouched, a single, sharp, icy blue eye its predominant feature.

A perfect match according to the coaster, Zen was about to stand up and signal for the agent to approach. At least until the fox identified Zen first and already began his approach to the table.

"Wouldn't happen to know a wolf by the name of Sean around here, would you?" he coolly requested. His tone was unusual; he somehow managed to blend a casual, amiable personality into an otherwise straightforward, businesslike mood. Zen liked it in a way.

"It's Zen," he corrected, and invited the fox to sit down. "And you wouldn't happen to be Clovis' contact, would you?"

"Friends call me Blitz," the agent introduced himself as he reclined in the chair opposite Zen and raised his hand for service. "And don't say that kind of crap out loud, mate. That's how covers are blown."

"Do I get to call you that?"

"Meh, why not?" Blitz shrugged as the bartender approached with a glass of ale and set it in front of him. "You seem like a nice enough guy. And, thank you, sweetheart." The vixen smiled again at Zen before scampering away behind the bar, back to the wolf who had entered earlier.

"You must come here rather frequently," Zen noted.

"How do you figure?" Blitz asked as he pulled the bandana down for a quick drink, immediately pulling it back up after. It seemed almost instinctual, like not having it on would invoke some adverse reaction. Zen didn't really care for mysteriousness when it came to people; it tended to correlate with unpredictability more often than not. This seemed like a force of habit more so than anything else however, and for all Zen knew maybe it was just the fox's taste. So Zen decided not to read much further into it. Blitz seemed like a friendly enough guy anyways.

"She dropped off your drink almost right away. Didn't order or anything," the wolf elaborated.

Blitz shrugged again. "Yeah, I'd count myself as a regular."

"You must be good friends with the bartender then."

"Who, Kayle? We're close."

"She told me how to find you, after all," Zen stated as he picked up his glass and showed the marked coaster to his contact.

Blitz chuckled, almost warmly. "Yeah, she's a good girl."

"Is she...uh.."

Blitz removed his bandana again and was about to go for another drink, but stopped about halfway through. "Is she, what?" he suspiciously inquired.

Zen paused for a second before finishing his thought. "Is she currently seeing anyone?"

"As in relationship?"

"Just curious."

Blitz snickered again. "I think you're jumping the gun a bit," he responded with a quick swig of ale.

"Jumping the gun?" Zen repeated.

"She's my niece, mate," Blitz clarified, replacing the bandana.

Zen wasn't sure what to think about that. "I-I'm sorry, then. I wasn't..."

"Ease off there, Zen. You didn't know," Blitz assuaged, looking over his shoulder at Kayle, drying off a beer glass. "Her old man's my brother, and he met her mom on a business trip. Fifty-fifty between her looking Polar or Coastal. That's why there isn't too much resemblance."

"Does she know where your loyalties lie?"

"Yeah, but she doesn't mind it," the fox answered, as he watched his niece amiably wave at the duo. Blitz returned the gesture and turned back to Zen. "She just wants to be useful, and volunteering her bar to sponsor our meeting is her way of doing that."

"So, maybe once all of this is done, you think...?"

"I'll run your name by her," Blitz responded, leaning forward on the table. "But first, I think we have some more pressing issues, don't we?"

"Right," Zen affirmed, ready to get to business. "So, what do we have on the assassinations?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me," Blitz answered back, not necessarily in a sarcastic way but a rather uncouth one comparatively.

"You confused me," Zen answered, unsure of how else he could respond to that remark.

Blitz leaned back in his chair and nodded over his left shoulder. "How long has the suit been here for?" he asked as he casually reached into his pocket. Zen turned his head to the right at the wolf at the bar, studying him for a moment.

"Came in right before you did. Something I should know about him?"

"Look at his hand when it's convenient," Blitz instructed as he opened up a butterfly knife and started casually flipping it around in his hand. Zen continued to fixate on the noble, who was currently resting his arms on the bar and chatting with Kayle. Zen was not sure what he was looking for, or why Blitz seemed to know more than he was letting on. Blitz seemed a little too relaxed for this type of job; it was almost like he wasn't taking it seriously at times, and the faint clicking sound the knife made as it opened, closed and reopened wasn't helping his case much. It was another unsettling thing about his contact, and it felt very strange. Blitz was not an unlikable Keidran, and out of all the contacts Clovis could have sent Zen's way, it was hard to be upset with who he got. But his mannerisms and habits just made Zen uneasy around the fox. They honestly shouldn't have; they seemed innocent enough to the point of irrelevance. That didn't make them any less...bizarre though.

The noble then relaxed in his chair a bit more and hung his right arm over the back. There was a small flash of red light as something reflected it off his hand, and upon further inspection, Zen could make out a ring on the wolf's third finger. He didn't find anything remarkable about it at first: silver material, a large ruby set in the center, rather standard as far as most jewelry was concerned. There was, however, a small engraving off to the side of the center jewel. Zen could not make out the exact design from where he was sitting, unfortunately, but this was almost certainly what Blitz was hinting at earlier.

"Nice ring," Zen acknowledged, then turned his attention back to the fox and the clicking blade. "And if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's pretty high up in whatever he's involved in."

"That's the Black Water family sigil, to be more precise," Blitz clarified, expertly tossing the knife back open again and snapping it shut.

"The good family or the bad?"

"Which one do you think?"

"It's a crime family isn't it?"

"Thought that'd be obvious."

"You never know."

"Think of a good reason someone like him would be in here if he wasn't."

"...bored of the high life?"

"Nice try."

"Any reason we care about this joker?"

"Black Waters pride themselves in knowledge. Whatever blanks Clovis and friends can't fill in, these guys can. So we're keeping an eye on him."

"Well, yeah. You are."

"Ha, ha."

"How do you know all this, Blitz?"

"Experience, that's really about it."

"What the hell?"

"Hey, you're an assassin, too, mate. That shouldn't be a surprising answer."

"No, the suit's reaching for something," Zen explained, craning his neck again as the suspected don rifled around in his pants pocket.

"He's in my blind spot," Blitz said, flipping the blade back open but not bothering to close it this time. "What's he up to?" he asked as he inspected the knife.

"Looks like an envelope," Zen detailed as he observed the wolf extract the white parchment. He then slapped it onto the bar and paused for a few moments before subtly sliding it over to his left, to a felid Keidran: black-furred, deep green shirt, left ear cut short. He nodded his approval before standing up from his seat and fast-walking out of the tavern. The noble himself waited for a couple seconds after his contact's departure before tipping Kayle, a tad skimpily by Zen's standards, and moving towards the back of the pub.

"He just passed it off to the cat next to him, and it looks like they're both leaving now," Zen narrated, eyes following the don's hire. Fortunately he seemed to slow down when he entered the main street, and Zen could maintain eye contact as he proceeded down it.

Blitz stood up and slapped the knife shut, concealing the blade underneath the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll take Black Water if you want to tail his friend," he offered as Zen rose from the table as well.

"He made a move towards the back of the pub. Guessing there's a staff room or something he's trying to use as an escape."

"I'll see if I can't catch him on his way out," Blitz calmly stated, and then his eyebrow jumped a bit as he remembered something. "Which reminds me, catch." The fox flipped a purple crystal at the assassin, who caught it effortlessly and examined it quickly before slipping it into his pocket.

"We don't have that mental link thing you and Clovis have, so that's the next best. Think of that crystal like an external, physical one. Just keep it on your person."

"Props for thinking ahead," Zen nodded in respect, pocketing the crystal.

"I aim to please," Blitz smirked underneath the bandana, but only momentarily. "Now get out of here. That thing will keep you updated," he commanded as he briskly turned towards the pub's far end. Zen exited the building in turn, entering the crowded street and reestablishing contact with his quarry.

* * *

 

The noble entered the tavern's back room, as inconspicuously as he could manage, and shut the door behind him quietly. Blitz picked up his pace slightly to compensate. He approached the shut door, pressed his back to the frame and with one hand lifted the handle and pushed it open. Tactically, stealthily entering the room, he found his target navigating the minefield of ale casks. Blitz slid his trademark knife out of his shirt sleeve back into his hand and professionally flipped the blade back open, shutting the door with the back of his foot. The noble may have been trying to keep the noise down, but with the additional soundproofing the door offered, Blitz didn't quite see the need to.

Which meant that he also saw no problems with doubling his target's foot speed, grabbing him from behind and pinning his back to the stone wall. He was now pressing on the noble's chest with his left forearm while his right hand held his signature butterfly knife close to his neck.

"Three rules: don't yell, don't struggle, and cooperate. Do all that and you won't get hurt. Sound good?" Blitz swiftly rattled off his conditions to the noble. He'd done this sort of work before and found this opening particularly effective when it came to interrogations.

"Who the hell are you?" the noble choked out, eyes fixated on the blade coming a tad too close to his jugular.

"Yeah, I thought that would be a good starting question too," Blitz nodded contemplatively. "Why don't you kick us off?"

"Listen, fox," the wolf stammered as he heavily breathed in. "I don't know who you work for, but I can make it worth..."

"I have money to spare. Thanks though," Blitz politely interrupted. "This isn't about me though. Let's talk about your friend at the bar, eh? What's his story?"

"What friend?" the wolf spat back, trying to avoid the question. Maybe if he played dumb, he could avoid divulging too much information.

Blitz picked up on it as well, and pressed the blade against the target's neck, taking care not to cut into it. Yet. The wolf inhaled sharply and cringed as he felt the cold, cured steel against one of his major vessels.

"Rule number three, mate. Remember that," Blitz fatherly reminded the noble. He eased up the knife's pressure, and the wolf's stress levels in turn. "A friend of mine is tracking him down as we speak, but you probably told him not to say anything about whatever errand you sent him on, right?"

Blitz could have sworn his prey was on the verge of crying. In his defense, he was young by the fox's standards. In all likelihood this was probably the first time he had been interrogated in this fashion. Blitz didn't feel too sorry for him, however. The inaugural hose down of information had to happen at some point. Blitz was just seeing that it happened sooner than later.

"He swore to secrecy, aye," the wolf answered, now terrified of the agent.

Blitz was making progress, and he knew it. "So he's not going to tell my guy anything once he nabs him. Sad," he commented, and pulled his bandana down off his face to achieve the full effect of his next statement. He had rehearsed this many times before, and it always achieved the same effect.

"But you, you're here with me," he maliciously, deviously, smugly grinned. "You can tell me whatever I feel like, won't you?"

The wolf finally snapped. "Oh, Gods. Why's it got to be me, man? I don't want to do this!" he bawled out, arms scraping against the wall in desperation. Blitz heightened the pressure against the wolf's ribcage in response.

"You wanna get out of here, my friend, you keep your voice down and you tell me what I want to hear," Blitz commanded, his tone completely shifted from what it was previously. He was now in full control, and any traces of his previously calm and distant personality dissolved into a gleeful, sadistic monstrosity the wolf now feared more than anything else. Exactly as planned.

"He's a killer, alright?" the wolf whispered as a tear of unadulterated dread rolled out of his eye. "I got that note from the alpha. I'm a just a runner, man! Don't do this!" his voice tampered off through the beginning of a small sob fit.

"Keep it coming, buddy," Blitz coerced, again pressing his knife to the throat of his prey. "You don't hire contract killers because you feel like it. Where's he going?"

"He's a countermeasure, alright?" the wolf continued to spew stuttered information, his eyes again glued to the precariously sharp blade, threatening to eviscerate his throat.

"Countermeasure, now that's a word I haven't heard in a while."

"We hired him to take out some spies. They've been collecting info. Alpha doesn't want them taking it. Oh, Gods..."

"Get a hold of yourself," Blitz snapped, pressing even harder on both the wolf's sternum and jugular. The wolf howled in pain as Blitz continued to push his advantage. "What was in that letter? Who's the target?"

The noble didn't respond immediately. Instead he took a few moments to hyperventilate, teeth grinding, eyes darting all over the back room, almost as if he was trying to find a nonexistent escape route.

Blitz did not like where his expression was going, and resorted to the tactic he truthfully did not want to go to. He removed the knife from the noble's neck, instead nicking him across the right cheek, a cut of about two inches. The wolf yelped in pain and surprise as the fox now pointed the blade directly underneath his chin.

" _Who's the target?_ " he demanded loudly. At this point he didn't really care about the noise level; this information was easily worth dodging any guards or security sent his way as a consequence.

"Hell if I know the organization!" the wolf yelled back in tears. "They, they-they just work for some stiff named Clovis! That's all I know man, I swear to Gods! Don't kill me!"

Blitz smiled crookedly once the wolf was finished with his outburst, quite satisfied at the result. He pulled the blade back, flicked it closed and backed up from the traumatized wolf. The wolf collapsed onto the floor, deeply breathing, trying to regain composure to little avail.

"Hot damn," Blitz quietly stated as he turned away from the noble, walking slowly towards the back room's window. "I mean, I knew you Black Waters were smart but...this, this is nothing short of marvelous."

He casually strolled over to one of the shelving units in the back room and picked up two clear, brown bottles of ale. "Drinks are on me, mate," he scoffed as he tossed one to the still distressed noble, the bottle landing in the stomach area as opposed to the hands. "The boss'll have to double my salary after this one," the fox remarked as he twisted off the cork and chucked it over his shoulder.

The wolf's face went white when he understood the full meaning of what Blitz had said. "You...you don't work for that..that guy do you?" he ventured timidly.

"Excellent deduction," Blitz answered unimpressed, and took a quick shot out of his bottle.

The noble went quiet, and then started to panic. His breathing became shallow and rapid again. "You're...you're not gonna get away with this info. I..I won't let you."

Blitz interrupted the swig he was about to take and looked at his target quizzically. "Now what makes you think that?"

"I'll put the word out," the noble spat. "I know your face, I know who you work for, I can get you into a heap of trouble in a real short time," the noble smirked, now thinking he had the upper hand. "You screwed up now, man," he scoffed.

"I see," Blitz commented, and set his drink down to approach the noble again. "Well then, if that's the case, I may as well give you something else to share with your friends," and he motioned to the multiple cloths covering his left eye. "Want to know where my eye went?" he politely asked.

"Not necessarily," the wolf responded.

"Nah, you'll like it. It's a cool story," Blitz insisted, and then squatted down to eye level with the noble. His tone had warmed back up since the interrogation, but it didn't make the atmosphere any less tense. "So, here's how it goes:"

* * *

 

I'm at a heist, right? Giant museum expo, of all things. We slip in through the ceiling after lights out, guards completely unaware to what's happening. Man, we got a  _gorgeous_  take off it. Ancient scrolls, jewelry, the whole shebang. It was an awesome job. Everybody left happy.

I, seeing as how I was the lead for this little job, got a bonus to go with my share. It was this really, really bright emerald. Big one too, right about the size of your hand. It was beautiful. And, as it turned out, it had a bit of a history behind it. Apparently, once upon a time, magic of the mind needed a focus, something to channel it through. And what I just picked up was one of those focuses, from way back when. Kind of like an antique.

That gem was my good luck charm from then on out, mate. I always had it on me. Took it everywhere, even on jobs. And then one day, I'm on a different assignment, and let's just say things went south with the security for that one. We got made real quick, and the guards wanted to try out their new toys real bad.

I took a crossbow bolt right to the side my left eye here, and it hurt, man. It  _stung_. I think that's the worst pain I've felt so far in my life, come to think of it. I pass out from the pain, and wake back up in the infirmary. Healer tells me the bolt punctured my optic nerve, and my eye was as good as dead. She just went ahead and pulled it out.

But then she tells me something else. And this is the really cool part. Apparently she found my lucky emerald in my rucksack and noticed what it was almost straight away. You see, she was a magic student, and she happened to know a thing or two about these sorts of...apparatuses I suppose. She tells me that they don't run on mana like almost everything else does, but rather they can be powered simply by thought.

Think about that for a second, mate. Powered by thought. That's amazing, right? I mean, how many things can you run just by thinking about them running? Not a lot, huh? It's mind magic, so it makes sense a bit, but still. Pretty awesome. So she decided to go ahead and took the liberty of taking that little emerald, and placing right where it could get all the thought it could ask for...

* * *

 

"Right up here," Blitz finished, tapping the side of his head, crookedly smiling yet again. "And you know? Wouldn't have it any other way."

"Yeah, yeah, nice story," the wolf brushed aside. He didn't care for the topic nearly as much as he thought he did at first, and he was shocked that he didn't interrupt Blitz earlier. "So what? You have a gem for an eye now. Just trying to feed me information?"

"Well, not quite," Blitz confessed as he moved a hand towards the cloths in front of his eye. "You know how I said earlier that you can go when you told me what I want to hear?"

"Yeah...?" the wolf answered uncomfortably.

"What I forgot to mention was that you're also going to tell the  _authorities_  what I want them to hear," Blitz added as he pulled the patches back and revealed the brilliant green gem lodged in a scarred, vacated eye socket. The gem flashed brightly for a moment, filling the room with light, then went back to its original state.

Blitz put the cloths back over the gem and then studied the noble quickly. The wolf's attention was now focused squarely on Blitz, nothing else. He sat against the wall, unblinking, fully alert, listening carefully to whatever the fox had to say next.

"So, here's what's going to happen," Blitz instructed as he pulled his bandana back over his mouth and nose. "You're not going to remember telling me anything. You're not going to remember me or who I work for or even what was in that envelope, nor will you say anything to the authorities or your higher-ups about what happened here. As far as you know..." the fox stopped himself to pick up the bottle resting in the wolf's lap and slipped it into his hand.

"Hold that for me, would you?" he kindly requested, and the wolf instantly complied, still paying close attention to the words Blitz spoke. "As far as you know when you wake up after this, you're just going to remember one wild party. You had a good time, made some friends, met these two beautiful tigresses. It was a full night for you, mate."

"Full night..." the noble muttered to himself deliriously.

"That's right, my friend. A full night, but a really fun one, and now you need to rest up for a bit. Get some energy for tomorrow, alright?"

"Really tired..."

"Yeah, I thought so. Good night, mate," the fox finished, and with a snap of his fingers, the wolf's eyes fell shut as his head rolled to the side, against the wall, fast asleep. Blitz stood back up and began to work at the window, trying to get it open.

"Zen, you can stop pretending not to listen now," he spoke out loud.

" _So that's what the eye patches are for, huh?_ " came Zen's tired response, sounding like he was out of breath.

"If you could do me a favor and not say anything about it," Blitz continued as he forced the window to slide up, venting the spirits' aromas in favor of cleaner air. "It's...kind of a trade secret."

" _Didn't hear a thing,_ " Zen commented. There was a small pause as, in the background, Blitz could pick up on someone getting their wind knocked out, likely the Keidran with the envelope.

"Sounds like you made a friend," the fox noted as he climbed out through the frame and into the pub's back alley.

" _Thought I'd take him to Clovis' house, swap stories for a bit. Care to join us?_ "

"He's sworn to secrecy, from what our mobbie told us. He's going to take a while to crack."

Zen scoffed in response. " _You say that like that's stopped you before._ "

"It hasn't. Meet you there." And at that Blitz indifferently removed the communication crystal from his pocket and dropped it onto the cobblestone walkway, shattering it into a countless number of fragments. The fox cared little and instead proceeded into the main street, hood raised, as if nothing had ever happened.

Exactly how it should be.

* * *

 

Chapter 7

"Mike! Come on, Mike. Open the door up. I just want to talk."

"You can talk to me once you find a way to undo what you just did."

"I don't know what I did, that's the problem!"

Evals jumped a bit as the door to Mike's bedroom swiftly, abruptly swung open, a very livid vixen on the other side. In no way whatsoever did she seem to exhibit any emotion apart from frustration, rage or general annoyance. Her pants had slid down about two inches from their original position for the lack of a belt, but Evals' attention was more focused on the chest area for two very good reasons.

"I think you know what you did!" Michelle sternly yelled at the dog, but then realized the message had not gone through completely. "Up here," she directed with a hand gesture. Evals' eyes followed to a very disappointed, resigned expression from his friend.

Evals was not sure how to comment on what events actually led to this conversation, so he settled on a toothy, sheepish smile, a shrug and "At least I did a good job, right?"

Michelle was not going to have any of it. "Get in here," she commanded as she dragged Evals through the open door by his shirt collar and slammed the door shut behind him. "You're the moron who got me into this mess," she started to explain as she began to remove her shirt. "So now you get to help me..."

She paused and skeptically stared down the dog for a few moments. Evals' tail was mischievously wagging, and Michelle was less than fond of his facial expression as well.

"I get to help you do what, Michelle?" he enthusiastically asked, hoping this would go where he thought it was.

"Don't call me that," the vixen ordered, and she sharply rotated her body away from the dog before fully disrobing the shirt. "And you're going to help me cover this up. Bandages, now," she directed, pointing towards the dresser against the cabin's wall.

Evals whimpered a bit in disappointment as he ventured over to his friend's dresser and picked up the cloth strips from the top of it. Presumably, Mike had rifled through a first aid kit and extracted them after the incident. Evals approached Michelle from behind and began to wrap the bandages around her chest.

The room was quiet for a few seconds, almost awkwardly so, until Evals cleared his throat and decided to fix that. "Look, Mike, you know that..."

"It wasn't intentional, I know," Michelle finished, cringing slightly as the pressure on her chest increased. "It was experimentation, and you were just reading something out of the book." She looked over her shoulder as Evals continued to work. "What was that spell, out of curiosity?"

"Manifest...something or other, I'll look it back up. It was supposed to produce one physically attainable object matching the user's preferences."

Michelle's face contorted with a strange mix of realization and rage. "And  _this_  was your preference?" she exclaimed.

Evals paused tying the bandages to hastily explain himself. "Mike, I swear, it was just a passing thought! Wasn't even a serious one either!"

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "Really now. Then what were you thinking about?"

"This is going to sound dumb, but I had my mind set on steak."

Michelle blinked. "Steak?" she repeated incredulously.

"I'm being dead serious. I was reading about the spell, my stomach growled, and my mind got caught on steak. So I tried to do it."

Michelle slipped her face into her hand and sighed. "Wow, what a dog."

"Don't look at me like that, Mike!" Evals retorted as he resumed gently wrapping the bandages. "I haven't had a steak in, like, three months, and it sounded really good then. So yeah, I wanted a steak! And then, while I was channeling, I asked myself, as a joke, if I could get Michelle back with the spell, and apparently it read it!" Evals then inspected the vixen, looking down and then back up at her. She seemed to have calmed down, now having heard the dog's story.

"I'll say it again though: you have to admit, you look pretty good as a girl."

Michelle decided to give her new form a look over in response: the extended chest, the slimmed silhouette...

"I...I kinda do, don't I?" she quietly admitted, and Evals noticed the vixen blushing slightly as she spoke. A different mood filled the air of the room with that sentence, and Evals wasn't quite sure whether he liked it or not. It was a weird blend between friendship and romanticism, but Evals felt that had to be either one or the other. Somewhere behind the feminine veil that was Michelle was his best friend, and that stipulation was probably the only reason Evals was not actively trying to do something more with the vixen. But then again, this  _was_  Michelle, and Evals had a particularly hard time resisting her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a small  _flumph_  sound, and Evals' eyes ventured back to the floor in curiosity. It was at that point he noticed that the entirety of Michelle's pants were lying around her ankles. He snickered into his hand for a few seconds before the vixen decided to look down. At that point, she let out a "Yipe!" of surprise and quickly knelt down to yank the pants back up to waist height. Somehow her face went even more red, and she glanced at the dog, first embarrassed, then more sternly when she saw the infamous tail wag.

"What are you looking at?" she barked.

"You know," Evals remarked, grinning with satisfaction. "In my defense, at least I didn't put a heart on your butt like the last time this happened."

"Well, then, thank you for being considerate," Michelle sarcastically returned. "Back to the bandages."

"Yes, ma'am," Evals woofed back, before pointing at his work in progress and saying, "You'll need to move your arms first, though. I can't reach around otherwise."

"Ah, sorry," Michelle complied, releasing her grip on the pants and extending her arms to the sides...

Prompting Evals to instead yank them down again to gain another look at the vixen's fully exposed back half.

"Dammit, Evals!" the vixen yelled as she hoisted the pants back up again, glaring at the dog currently howling with laughter. "This is serious! You know I hated this last time!"

Evals managed to suppress himself long enough to choke out, "I'm sorry, Mike! But since I don't know how long Michelle's staying over, I'm going to make the most of her while I can!"

"Why do you keep objectifying me like this?" Michelle gloomed, too overwhelmed by the dog's insatiable lust to be upset at him.

"I can always make this more personal, if you like..." Evals suggested, wearing the sketchiest grin he could manage.

"Screw you, Evals!" Michelle screamed.

"That's not nice. Just trying help."

"Yeah, help yourself! You son of a..." was as far as the frustrated vixen got before the bedroom door was knocked upon by the Basitin passenger.

"Mike? You in there?" Keith politely asked from outside. "Island's in view, want to talk about arrival procedures."

Michelle started to panic when she heard that request. "Of course he does, and he picked an amazing time. I can't go out like..." She was interrupted again as the unfinished bandaging decided to stop adhering to the fox's midsection and began to fall to the floor. Michelle screamed in shock a second time and grabbed whatever she could, hugging it tight against her chest.

"Evals! Do something!" she panicked.

"Do I have to?" Evals reluctantly answered. "This is pretty amusing by itself."

"Please!" the vixen practically begged.

Evals good-naturedly chuckled and finally decided to yield. "Lie down next to the bed for a bit. I'll talk to Keith," the dog suggested, and Michelle wasted no time taking it. Lying prone on her back on the far side of the bed, she would be well hidden from Keith as long as he didn't enter the room itself.

Michelle practically dove behind the bed as Evals opened the door and greeted the Basitin warmly. "Heya, Keithy! Sorry about the wait!" he ecstatically welcomed from the doorway. A bit too much so, as Keith's blank, borderline confused expression indicated.

"Keithy?" he repeated.

The dog needed a couple seconds to realize exactly how corny his last sentence was. "Wow, did I really just call you that?" he sheepishly asked.

"Want to pretend you didn't?" Keith offered.

"Let's," Evals nodded.

"What exactly is going on in there?" the Basitin inquired, trying to peek over Evals' shoulder into the bedroom.

Evals heard a small "meep" of fright escape his friend's mouth, and hastily positioned his body back in front of Keith's line of sight. "Nothing of note, boss. Mike and I were just moving some furniture around. I mean, we're on the boat for at least another two weeks after this, right? Might as well make ourselves at home."

Michelle held her breath as she waited for the Basitin to answer. After what seemed like an hour but couldn't have been more than two seconds, Keith indifferently shrugged and said, "Fair enough." Michelle inaudibly exhaled in relief. "Well, as soon as you two are done in here, then, can you meet me up top? Basitins tend to have strict customs, and I want to get through with as little drama as possible."

"We'll be right up!" Evals affirmed with a nod.

"Good then. I'll let you get back to your..." Keith struggled to find the right word for a moment. "...furnishing rearrangements?"

"Won't take long," Evals assured as he reclosed the door. Keith then began to walk down the corridor to the designated meeting area.

Or he was, until his ear twitched, receiving noise from behind Mike's door. More specifically, Evals was speaking again, presumably to his fox friend. The dialogue was a little unusual, however, even for their standards. It started with "So, now that we're alone in here...," followed up immediately by a  _slap_  sound and a moderately sharp yelp of pain.

The Basitin looked back over his shoulder in curiosity, trying to decipher that conversation, but shook his head and forced his legs to progress down the hallway. "You don't want to know," he spoke to himself as he climbed the stairs to A Deck.

* * *

 

"Clovis, what are we doing in your wine cellar?"

"A couple of things, my friend," the half-fox informed as he started to draw power out of a mana crystal in his left hand and manifest it into a small fireball in his right. Zen was referred to by Clovis as his "friend" rather frequently, even though he knew quite well that Clovis never made friends. Alliances, definitely, but never friends. Maybe he did it as a nicety, to add a little bit of familiarity in his relationships where there was none. Clovis did try to exhibit class and formality wherever he could, at least when he was not under duress. That did not make his form of address any less ironic however.

Clovis held the fireball to a torch hung on the staircase wall, and after a couple seconds the torch caught fire and began to more thoroughly illuminate the cellar. This also seemed to spark a chain reaction, whereby the other torches scattered around the basement jumped aflame, one by one in quick succession. Zen was mildly impressed for a moment, and watched the torches come to life as Clovis continued to escort him down the stairwell and into the wine cache.

Zen was well aware of the half-fox's opulent financial status, but even then he was taken aback by the cellar's enormous size. Laid out in nice, even arrangements was aisle upon aisle of fine wine, all neatly arranged and sorted by year, flavor, vineyard, and a few other miscellaneous criteria only Clovis seemed to understand. The cellar even had a few oil paintings hung on the walls in between the torches: a few landscapes, but the majority of them portraits, probably Clovis' family if Zen had to guess. His hypothesis was heavily supported by the obnoxiously large portrait of Clovis himself stationed on the far wall, flanked by a slightly downsized male wolf Keidran on the right and a female fox on the left. So in a sense the cellar did serve as a shrine to his own ego, but aesthetically...

"Not bad," Zen commented, but then a thought crossed his mind and he leered at his employer. "Wait a second. The money Natani and I were lifting for you...?"

"It didn't go towards this," Clovis preemptively reassured. "Not all of it, at least."

"Not all of it?" Zen repeated skeptically, slightly irked at the ambiguous answer.

"You'll see in a moment," Clovis teased as he strode down one of the aisles, running his hand across the bottles' corks delicately. "In the meantime, we made progress on our mystery killer, and that calls for a celebration." Clovis stopped momentarily and pointed at a small wooden table near the beginning of the rack. "There are a couple glasses over there, if you wouldn't mind fetching them."

Zen reluctantly obeyed and about faced to retrieve the stemmed glasses. "Who else is coming down here?" he asked. It was probably a safe guess that even though he picked up two glasses, the other one was not for him.

"Nobody, Zen. It's just you and me for now," the half-fox answered as he halted about two-thirds through the aisle and knelt down.

"So what are the glasses for?" Zen inquired as he caught up with Clovis.

"What do you think they're for?" was the response as Clovis as he uncorked one of the bottles. "You were a key player for my little spy ring today, so I'd like to invite you to share a drink with me," he elaborated, sniffing the bottle analytically.

"What do you think, a bit too bold for today?" he asked, tilting the bottle towards Zen.

"You want me to have a drink with you," Zen restated, trying to make sure Clovis didn't mix up his words somehow.

"I believe that's what I said, yes," Clovis affirmed as he recorked the bottle and slid it back into its proper place.

"Clovis, have you gone soft on me?" Zen had to ask. "I swear, this is the first friendly thing you've done in the entire time I've known you."

"Don't misinterpret this, Zen," the half-fox clarified as he shuffled down the aisle, scanning for a different selection. "There's nothing friendly about this. I do this solely out of respect for my assets. You have proven yourself to be very useful to my business, and I think that deserves a reward. Ah, here we are," he noted and extracted a translucent blue bottle from the second to bottom shelf.

"And yet this is the first time I've been down here," Zen pointed out as Clovis yanked out the cork and set it on top of the rack.

"To which I say, you were paying off a debt back then. This is different," Clovis explained as he took a glass off of Zen's hands and filled it about a quarter of the way. "You signed a formal contract with me this time. Which means you are now, by definition, one of my agents, as temporary as it may be." Clovis began to fill Zen's glass, paying no mind to the wolf's slightly puzzled expression. "And, as you can see, that status has its perks."

"You are a very unusual person, Clovis," Zen observed, as if it needed to be stated.

"Well, of course I am," the half-fox smugly responded as he replaced the cork and then the bottle in the rack. Glass in hand, then began to walk towards his gargantuan portrait on the far wall. "Do you have any idea how boring I would be if I wasn't?"

"I can imagine. For one, you probably wouldn't have all of these oversized pictures of yourself," Zen stated, following his employer, curiously inhaling the fumes coming out of his glass. His tastes were not nearly as refined as a connoisseur like Clovis' would be, but he did detect a few fruity hints and maybe a splash of vanilla even.

"Oh? And why's that?"

"I think we both know you'd do anything to inflate your ego, and that includes the artwork here," the wolf continued, halting in front of the portrait with Clovis.

"Ego," Clovis scoffed. "That's such a trivial characteristic."

"Says you."

"Because ego is how big you see yourself as. Seeing as how only one person has control over that, it's not exactly an amazing measure of character."

The assassin paused for a second, verbally staggered by Clovis' philosophical insight. "Alright, fine then. So what do you call this?" Zen finally asked as he motioned towards the portrait with his wine glass.

"Practicality," Clovis responded after a sigh.

Zen paused for a second, pondering that answer. "Practicality for, what, exactly?"

"I'll show you. Let's examine this on the surface first, though. I, personally, see myself, standing tall, in control, everything is exactly how I like it. It is a statement of authority. How about you?"

"I see a self-congratulatory picture purchased by somebody with too much disposable income."

"Fair answer," Clovis shrugged. "A little mean, but a fair answer nevertheless. Why do you think that?"

"Frankly, this just looks like an art piece that someone buys because they can."

"There's the problem."

"What's the problem?" Zen glanced at the crookedly smiling spymaster.

"Zen, in the entire span in which you've known me, when have I ever done anything, to steal your words, because I can?"

"Apart from you extorting me and my brother?"

"Sister," Clovis was quick to correct. "And as unlikeable as that little outing was, you did earn some cash for both you and me, so I don't like to count that."

"Where are you even going with this?"

"Everything I do, Zen, has a purpose behind it. Triviality is a curse, and I never do anything without a reason." Clovis moved his wine glass closer to Zen's and held it in front of him. "Cheers, incidentally."

Zen was still confused by Clovis' explanation, but still good-naturedly replied "Cheers," and tapped the rim of his glass with the other. An even, monotone  _cling_  reverberated nicely in the cellar as Clovis shut his eyes and took a small sip from his glass, trying to fully embrace the wine's characteristics. As he did, Zen's ears picked up on a deep, rumbling sound emanating from behind the half-fox's portrait. He observed the wall it was mounted on recede a couple of inches, and then rotate longitudinally, revealing a well-lit passageway and a wooden door at the end. The section of wall grinded to a halt, completely perpendicular to its initial position, as Clovis exhaled with satisfaction and opened his eyes again.

"Pinot noir, Snake River Winery, year 437 if I'm not mistaken...? Yes, yes indeed," Clovis recited the wine's biography, then turned to Zen. "Savor it, my friend. Drafts like this come once in a lifetime," he spoke as he proceeded down the newly revealed passage.

"Fancy," Zen commented, intrigued by both the secret hallway and its somewhat out-of-the-way opening mechanism. Clovis was well within his rights to just rig a pressure plate or something behind one of the bottles in the cellar, but then again he was always one to show off. If he could make it fancy, he would.

Clovis continued down the passage, but stopped about halfway through to look at Zen over his shoulder. "Are you not coming with?" he asked the wolf. "This is the hitman, you know. You caught him yourself."

"Wait, you want me to follow?" Zen asked, making sure he understood exactly what Clovis was saying. "I mean, what's exactly behind that door?"

"My room of operations, of course," Clovis called back. "And yes, by all means you should. Like I said earlier, you're a key player now."

* * *

 

Chapter 8

"You're serious?" Keith skeptically asked as he finished pulling on his cape, completing his dress uniform typical for Basitin generals. Evals was currently escorting him up the stairs to the main deck, where the port was just now coming into plain view. He clicked the circular brass fastener together at the front, inlaid with the Basidian Isles' coat of arms, then double checked to make sure his sword holster was on the right side of his belt and not the left. Propriety was tantamount for his first return home in eighteen months, and the last thing Keith wanted to do was incorrectly sport his military dress uniform.

"Look, I told you what happened, alright?" Evals defended as he lifted open the wooden door, squinting slightly as the harsh sunlight rushed through the opening. "It was an innocent operation, and accidents happen," he added as he arrived above deck, Keith closely following behind. Natani stood on the bow, sporting as nice an outfit as she could manage as well. She was staring out at the island, watching the docks slowly inch closer to the boat. She turned her head to the side as she saw Keith and Evals approach.

"But breaking his foot?" Keith responded. "I'm not saying it can't happen, but it just sounds a little sketchy is all."

"What can I say? Bed frames get very heavy very quickly."

"What exactly is going on here?" Natani jumped in, then noticed someone was missing. "And where's Mike?"

"Evals dropped a bed on his foot and broke it, apparently, so Mike's off duty until he's healed back up," Keith explained.

"Is it bad?" Natani inquired, and if Evals didn't know any better he would have thought that was concern he heard.

"Just a simple fracture, could have been worse," the dog answered. "I'll do a little bit of reading and see what I can do for healing while you two are out."

"Or, you can let me take a look at it," Natani offered. "He's probably in his room, right?" she asked as she started to move towards the stairs.

Evals quickly strode in front of the wolf, obstructing her path. "A-a-actually, Natani, you don't need to do that for me if you don't want. It's just a broken bone, right? I mean, how hard can it be, right? I can handle this."

"You could, but I already know the spell. And I have more practice with it," Natani responded, brushing past the dog and continuing onward.

"But, but hold on a second!" Evals stammered, stepping in front of Natani a second time. "Don't you also have something to do on the island? I mean, for the incident report, you were technically a witness, right? Shouldn't you be going with Keith then for the hearing?"

Natani's annoyance was reaching visible levels by this point. "Evals, get out of the way," she commanded. Keith was considering breaking this up before it escalated, but there was something strangely amusing about this whole exchange, so he decided against it for now.

"I'm just saying, you're a busy guy! This is really a low priority thing. Just let me handle it," Evals quickly, stutteringly replied.

"Seriously, pooch. Move it. I'm going to take a look at his foot."

"And I'm saying you really don't need to and I'm already on it! Come on, Natani. Let me do something responsible for once!"

"Responsible, eh?" Natani perked an ear, but was still unconvinced that Evals could handle spellcasting by ear. As admirable as his loyalty was, the effects were never quite right when read straight from a book, and she didn't suspect this time would be any different.

"Yeah! Mike's my friend and I want to take care of him. So if you don't mind, I'd like to handle this."

"At least let me observe you, then," Natani countered as a compromise. "First time spells never go as planned, and you'll be glad I'm there if things..."

"Please, Nat, why can't you just leave me alone?" Evals begged. "I just want to patch my friend up."

"If I can't come with you, I'm going by myself," Natani pressed, trying to find a way around the obstructive dog and failing to do so. Evals readily positioned himself to deny access to the stairwell, adamant on not letting the disgruntled wolf through.

Natani sighed after a few more attempts and started to search her back pocket instead. "Don't make me get desperate, Evals," she warned.

"Why? What's desperate?" Evals asked curiously, thinking for a second the wolf was backing down.

It was actually quite the contrary. A couple seconds later Natani held up the results of her pocket salvage: a light brown, bone-shaped biscuit, roughly three inches long, being held delicately between her thumb and forefinger. "What's this, boy?" she asked enthusiastically, gently shaking it and watching Evals' eyes follow it. "What is it?"

"That appears to be a dog treat," Evals answered, trying his hardest not to succumb to a more instinctual disposition. Composure was everything...

"No it isn't, silly doggie," Natani playfully chided, waggling the bone even more. "Come on, boy, what do I have here?"

"...it's a cookie," Evals finally gave in.

"Yeah, it's a cookie, isn't it?" Natani continued to coax. Behind her, Keith was silently grinning at the silliness of this little debacle. At least the wolf was keeping it entertaining, and she seemed to be enjoying herself somewhat as well, exploiting Evals' obstinate weakness for free food.

"Is it for me?" Evals asked, gently, intently sniffing the biscuit.

"Mmm, I don't know," Natani teased, lifting the bone up over her head, prompting Evals to elevate his head in order to follow it. "Is it yours?"

"Kinda want it to be," Evals confessed, sitting down to gain a better perspective of the treat.

"Do you want it?"

Evals went silent for a second before answering. "Please?" he asked, eyes still fixated on the wolf's hand.

"Sorry, boy, couldn't hear you. Did you want it?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Evals panted, his tail energetically pounding the deck with a rapid, rhythmic  _thump_.

"Alright, boy. Go get it!" Natani commanded as she flipped the bone over her shoulder towards the mast. Evals almost immediately ran after it, joyously barking as the biscuit took one bounce off the wooden floor. Evals leaped and grabbed it on the rebound. After securing it in both hands, he crashed onto the deck, tumbled, and then slid to a stop on his back, propped in an inverted fashion against the mast. He took a look in his hands briefly and started to wag his tail again once he confirmed the cookie had sustained no damage.

"Got it!" he exclaimed as he started to nibble away at the treat, paying no mind to his abnormal position on the deck.

"Good. Good to hear," Natani stated as he continued his walk to the stairs. "And now that you're out of the way..."

"Actually, Nat, Evals brought up a good point," Keith interrupted from the ship's bow. "You were a witness when we got jumped, so I believe you'll have to get off with me to make the statement."

"Oh," Natani responded, slightly impressed that the dog knew about this before she did. "How soon until we're at port, then?"

"No more than two minutes, if our speed's anything to go by."

"Hmm, I see," the wolf acknowledged, then returned to Evals, who was still unusually lying against the mast and still thoroughly enjoying his snack.

"Thank you, Nat!" he said gleefully as he continued munching on the bone.

"Just try not to make things worse than they are, alright?" Natani sternly requested, skeptically looking down at the dog's head resting between her feet. "One deckhand with a bad foot is more than enough right now."

"Will do!" Evals happily woofed in response, then lifted his head to address Keith. "Hey, boss. I'm thinking I should drop anchor in a couple seconds, right?"

"Actually, just bring us to no sail for a moment, would you? I'd like to drift into port before we anchor down."

Evals immediately flipped the remainder of the biscuit into his mouth and stood back up. "On it, but why?" he inquired as he started to climb the rope bindings around the mast.

"I've always wanted to try something, Evals, and this is probably the best opportunity we'll have for it."

"Ah," Evals called back as he continued to scale the pole. "Shooting for that sort of heroic dismount, huh?"

Keith nodded slightly. "Yeah, something like that," he affirmed, and then his ears twitched again as a different thought came to him. "That reminds me," he half-shouted at the dog, currently shuffling towards the rope near the end of the sail. "What are you and Mike going to do while Natani and I are here?"

"How do you mean?" Evals asked as he began to roll up the canvas sail.

"The island's not completely over our bias towards your kind just yet," Keith clarified before Natani loudly cleared her throat behind the Basitin, disdainfully.

"No offense, Nat," Keith off-handedly remarked before finishing his thought. "We can probably get you through customs as slaves if you want to come with, but I know you in particular aren't very fond with that label now."

"Honestly, Keith, seen one island, seen them all," Evals responded as he secured the sail to the mast with a quick square knot. "Mikey and I will be just fine on the ship here."

"I just don't want you to feel left out, is all."

"Don't stress it, boss," the dog assured as he started to shuffle in reverse back to the main part of the mast. "We'll let you know if we want to come on. Otherwise, we're used to hanging back and keeping our Fair Lady in order."

Natani was about to interject until she realized that Evals was talking about the ship, and slapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anything.

"Alright then, Evals," Keith returned, a bit confused by Natani's body language. "Thank you for that."

"Hey, you paid us to sail a ship. This is just us meeting our terms," Evals replied as he reassumed an upright position and slid back down the pole onto the deck. He then pointed off to the side of the ship. "Also, port bow, fifteen degrees. I'm pretty sure that's the docks."

Keith nodded in acknowledgement. "That they are," he stated as he moved towards the front of the boat, near the gap in the railing. "Care to join me, Natani?"

"I think I'll disembark the normal way, thanks," the wolf declined the offer. Needless to say, Natani did not care much for spontaneity, even if her best friend was the one trying to instigate it.

Keith shrugged indifferently and took position at the bow, attempting to look as regal as possible. He planted his left foot at the end of the forecastle, maintaining his balance by gripping the bowsprit with his right hand. He deeply breathed in the island's air, something he had not sampled in a long time, and eyed the docks as they inched closer and closer to the ship. As they approached stepping distance, Keith swung his right leg forward and, in one fluid rehearsed motion, stepped onto the docks and began to walk down them.

Four harbor guards also seemed to notice Keith disembark from the Quantum, and orderly marched towards him, until Keith met them about two-thirds of the way down the dock. The typical Basitin salutes were exchanged: the guards first extending their right arms and then pressing a clenched fist against their chest, all in disciplined unison. Keith returned the same gesture, then calmly commanded, "At ease." Basitin military were trained in all three of the common languages, and all salutes sharply, crisply fell to the soldiers' sides at that word.

"Welcome back, sir," the front soldier addressed the general. "Please prepare to receive General Alabaster."

"Thank you, Sergea..." Keith began, but stopped himself short. "Wait,  _General_  Alabaster?"

"General Keiser!" a sixth Basitin called from the main area of the docks. Keith had to lean slightly to see around the formation, but he did manage to make out Alabaster boldly striding across the wooden planks to meet him. Keith first met him under less than likable circumstances: as the chief auditor for Keith's hearing over a year and a half ago. Of course, Keith deduced that, in the unlikely event that he did encounter Alabaster again, there was almost no way he would still be a lieutenant. He figured he'd probably be promoted once or twice during that time. But somehow Alabaster managed to attain General in eighteen months or less, when he should have, by all rights, been no higher than Major.

"Nice to see you're back, Keith," he gruffly addressed the other general, cutting in front of the four harbor guards as he did so. Alabaster's stature was nothing short of professional. He almost always stood feet shoulder width apart, hands behind his back, eyes unwaveringly fixated on his subject, dress uniform spotless and completely regulation. At least, save for the pipe he almost always kept in his mouth while outside military quarters. That may have been the one thing that could possibly distract anyone from his constantly stern mannerisms and verbiage, and even then it wasn't particularly effective.

So Keith eventually figured that the best way to deal with an overly serious officer of equal rank was to simply behave normally with a hint of professionalism. "Haven't changed much, have you, Aster?" he rhetorically asked. "Apart from the rank, of course."

"Guess you didn't hear the news," Alabaster elaborated, removing his pipe and blowing a quick puff of white smoke into the air. "I am the Eastern Isle's Intelligence General now."

Keith's inherent confusion was done away with in favor of a more impressed feeling. "Very nice, sir. Congratulations," he responded, dignifiedly. "What about Arms General, then? Who managed to get that?"

"Tournament's still going on, so it's still..." Alabaster started, but then had to stop himself to observe something over Keith's right shoulder. "That isn't your ship, I hope," he said, pointing towards the respective direction. A small amount of tobacco bled onto the docks as he inadvertently tilted the pipe.

"Which...oh that one," Keith resignedly answered his own question as he disappointedly watched the bow of the Quantum ram the stonework end of the harbor with a nice, rigorous  _crunch_  and then lackadaisically ricochet back. Keith would have found the situation humorous, but the effect was mostly mitigated since it was  _his_  ship currently playing ping-pong with the unyielding shipyard.

Evals ran up and leaned over the banister shortly afterwards, panting and out of breath like he had just finished running somewhere. "Sorry there, boss!" he sheepishly called to Keith. "Forgot to drop anchor after you..." He never finished his thought, since that was when he noticed Natani angrily chasing him from out of his peripherals. Instead, he gave a short scream of surprise and started to sprint away from the rightly miffed wolf.

"You'll have to forgive the dog. He's a bit of a dunce," Keith apologized after a small sigh. "Great sailor, just...," he stopped himself for a moment, trying to choose his next words as nicely as possible.

"Not the sharpest knife in the cabinet, eh?"

"I was trying not to be so forthright about it."

"No reason not to be," Alabaster argued, puffing some more smoke into the wind. "You're in a position of power, Keith. It's your job to say it as it is."

"I can try to be considerate at the least."

"You do tend to care a lot about things."

"Only the important things, Aster," Keith pointed out. "And speaking of important things..."

Alabaster picked up the cue immediately. "Ah, yes. The wolf incident. I actually got dispatched to escort you to King Adelaide, if you'd like to come with."

Keith looked back over at the ship to see if Natani was still around. She was still on the boat, if the shouts of "Get over here!" and Evals' yipping were anything to go by, but it looked like she'd be occupied for a while as she vented her frustrations. "I'm not going to need Natani for this, am I?"

"The wolf? Nah, the inquiry isn't set to start until tomorrow. I actually wanted to introduce you to someone and get your quarters set up."

"So what is he going to do for lodging then?"

"I have that sorted too," Alabaster stated and cleared his throat. {Gentlemen!} he firmly addressed the soldiers in the Basitin native language. The soldiers snapped to attention and Alabaster circled around to give his orders.

{There's a Keidran on that ship going by the name of...} He stopped himself when he couldn't remember the name, and glanced at Keith encouragingly.

{Uh..Natani,} Keith divulged. {Forest Wolf tribe.}

Alabaster turned back to the squad. {See to it he is shown to the palace once he disembarks and assist him in whatever ways you can, understood?}

{Yes, sir!} the soldiers yelled back authoritatively, in unison.

{Excellent,} Alabaster finished, and began to leave the docks. "And now that that's over with, General Keiser, let's actually get to the fun bits, eh?"

* * *

 

The cat sat limply in his chair, hands bound behind him, sniffling in an attempt to stymie the small stream of blood coming from his nose. The stonework floor was becoming progressively more stained and scratched, but Clovis took it as an acceptable loss, even for somebody as particular as he was for his estate's presentation. The small, windowless room had housed "information sessions" much more graphic than this one, and it wasn't like the cleanup was too difficult. Clovis wasn't physically present in the room, and neither was anybody else for that matter. Instead, the cat was being observed though a bright, blue-flamed torch across from him in the corner. There were actually four in the room, presumably not to draw attention to the enchanted one. Clovis had magicked it with an observation spell, and was now watching and hearing his captive through a clear, glasslike viewing orb, parked just outside the room in a small communal area.

The half-fox's room of operations was completely underground, and this communal room served as a central hub of sorts for anybody working in it. A spiderlike maze of corridors went every which way from the central area, each leading to a different section of the bunker. Containment, overwatch, even a lounge for recently debriefed agents could be located at the end or in one of the many passages, if you knew which one to go down.

The common room itself was decorated in a very Clovis-like fashion, with high-end furnishings, more than sufficient illumination, even fine rugs parked underneath the wooden tables. Each table, no larger than one would find at a pub, also had a medium-sized metal canister containing basic magical reagents for almost any school there was to practice: mana crystals, chalk for drawing transmutation circles, a few common herbs and flowers. In this case, Clovis had the viewing orb placed in the center of the table, steadied by a bronze stand to keep the orb from rolling.

The cat coughed a bit in view of the three other Keidran situated at the table. Each expressed a unique mood of varying levels of interest. Clovis himself was sitting straight up, fixated, almost enthralled by the orb and its inhabitant. Zen was resting his head in his hand, blandly acknowledging the orb's presence and wondering why nothing has happened in the past five minutes. Blitz was leaning back in his chair, playing with his butterfly knife again and looking as indifferent as always.

Zen finally gave in to his boredom and let out a yawn. "Hey, Blitz?" he asked over the  _clickity_ - _click_  of the knife. The fox's uncovered eye looked up at Zen as he continued with his question. "I'm all for letting this bastard stew in his own guilt, but when are we actually going to do something?"

"Very soon, actually," Clovis answered in Blitz's stead, rummaging through his trouser pocket. Zen shot a contemptuous stare his way, feeling like he was interrupted in a way. "You and I are about to head in and see what he has to share. Ideally he's still shaken up from his time with Blitz here."

"Should be," the third agent remarked, rolling the blade over the outside of his hand and catching the case again. "That has to be the most fidgety kitty I've hosed down in a while."

"What can you tell us?" Clovis inquired as he pulled out a small circular tin and popped the lid off. Zen watched the half-fox slip a white tablet into his mouth, as his purebred companion reached over the table to do the same.

"Weak will, weak constitution, weak...just about everything, if we're being honest," Blitz commented as he tugged his bandana down and swallowed his tablet. "I'd say we just keep in mind that he's probably a hired blade, so this may or may not be a good use of our time."

"All information is worth something, Blitz," Clovis rebutted, and then glanced over at Zen. "Ah, my apologies, Zen. Where in the world are my manners?" he spoke like he was unenthusiastically reciting for a play. "Care for a mint?"

Zen skeptically looked down at the tin and then back up at Clovis. "Not really a mint-y sort of guy, thanks," he declined.

"No, please, I insist," Clovis responded, sliding the tin towards the Magi Brother. "Try one."

"Are you being cryptic on purpose again or are these mints just so amazing I have to try one?" Zen inquired pressingly.

Blitz started laughing in response and Clovis' eyes narrowed in the Polar Fox's direction. "Come on, boss! He's got you on that one," he chortled, and then grimaced and half-whispered "Ow," as he shut the knife on his lower half of fingers. He moved the blade to his left hand and started shaking his right to null the pain.

"If you must know, it's an alchemical medicine. A preventative cure," Clovis reluctantly clarified.

"Dare I ask against what?" Zen asked back, unmoved.

Clovis motioned to the viewing orb and to the blue-flamed torches in the corners. "Those torches don't burn blue because I felt like they should, Zen. Tell me, have you ever heard of a plant called dreadroot?"

"Do I look like a botanist?"

Clovis hummed, almost disappointedly, and continued. "I feed its leaves to the torches in that room. It creates a colorless, odorless gas that, when inhaled, causes blurriness of vision and hearing distortion. It keeps me and my agents protected from any stories our 'friends' tell about us."

"And to keep me from feeling the same effects..."

"You're sure you don't want one?" Clovis repeated, pointing at the tin.

"On second thought, I'll give it a bash," Zen replied, extracting a "mint" and promptly ingesting it. Zen was actually pleasantly surprised at the taste; he could have sworn that Clovis was using the term "mint" in the same way a Human plantation owner would use the word "assistant". He was glad to see he was wrong.

Thom entered the common room from one of the corridors, and Clovis turned his head over his shoulder. "I take it he's ready to see us then?"

"Yes, sir," Thom professionally confirmed. "We're ready to begin whenever you are."

"Excellent," Clovis resealed the tin and slipped it back into his pocket. "Let's get to work, eh?" Zen and Blitz nodded back and the three of them rose from their seats to exit the common room. Clovis let the tiger lead as the one most familiar with the layout, and directed the group down the southeastern hall. It was not a far walk to the cat's holding cell, a burnished wood door with one of Clovis' well-structured bodyguards standing at its sides. Thom took up position on the other side of the door, mirroring his companion's posture.

"This is it, sir," Thom called out as he searched his belt for the cell's key.

"Just breathe normally, Zen," Blitz soothingly instructed as they waited for the cell to unlock. "Act like the fumes aren't there."

Zen nodded in thanks, despite finding Blitz's advice a little too consoling, as if Blitz thought he was intimidated by the scenario. He wasn't, of course. Zen had interrogated suspects in much more bizarre circumstances than this, and he was relatively confident that Clovis' medicine would work. No, he had to be  _certain_  that it would work. It was just an alchemical substance used to mitigate the vapor's effects. That was it, that was all. It wasn't like it was unsafe either; he saw Clovis and Blitz take one before him, so it had to be safe.

Really, that should have been the end of that train of thought. But the more Zen thought about the medicine, the more he thought something was going to go bad. More specifically, he started to suspect the half-fox was going to try something. No, that would be silly, and uncharacteristic for that matter. Clovis wouldn't purposefully pull the rug out from under him, not after what Zen just did for him. He said himself too; Zen was an asset now. Clovis may have been one for cost efficiency and knowing when something's served its purpose, but even he wouldn't willingly off his own agents. Would he?

And why was this uncertainty only now building? Zen only trusted Clovis implicitly as per his agreement, but so far nothing notably sketchy has happened with either party. That was another thing Clovis mentioned, come to think of it. Zen and, to an equal extent, Blitz were pivotal operatives for finding the hitman, and Clovis, though he was yet to deliver, was the only Keidran Zen knew could be of use for his intel hunt. Nobody gains anything through betrayal here, and Zen was well aware of that. So why the nerves now? Everything was going to be just fine.

He would have pondered the situation more if he wasn't yanked back to reality by the  _clink_  of a retracting lock mechanism and then the high-pitched  _squeak_  of the door hinges opening. Thom and the other guard had pulled cloth facemasks over their nose and mouth to prevent fume inhalation, and held the door open as the three canids passed through it and into the containment room; first Clovis, then Zen. Blitz stopped in the doorway to look skeptically at Thom and his friend's facemasks.

"Just for the record," he noted as he passed a hand over his bandana and briskly entered the room, "I started that." Thom signaled to the other warden once Blitz had cleared the doorway, then shut it and secured the padlock.

The three spies were now standing opposite the interrogation room's table, and across from the captured Keidran. Everything was eerily lighted by the azure dreadroot torches, and the air was rank with the herb's scent. One of the few instances where a Keidran's amplified sense of smell was actually a drawback, and Zen thought he would have to leave the room because of it.

It was likely designed to be like that, however. Besides, Clovis didn't seem to have any difficulty breathing, and Blitz...actually he didn't count since he still had his bandana with him. In either case, Zen decided to just live with it. On the positive side, all of these factors compounded together - the lighting, the herbs, the stench - made atmosphere palpably horrifying as a result. Even Zen was unnerved just standing in the room, and this was without the vapor's side effects. But that also meant that, if Zen was uneasy in the room, then there was almost no doubt that the captive was nothing short of terrified right now. That was the advantage, and he had to press it as much as he could.

Clovis, however, was the first to speak up. "Good evening, Mister..." Clovis paused, intentionally. It was all part of the psychological warfare he waged with his visitors. "...my word, this is unprofessional of me, isn't it? I had about twenty pages worth of parchment on you and I forget your name, of all things. You have my apologies, friend."

The cat grunted before answering back. "Who..." he weakly gasped, in shock from his progressively dulling senses. "...what are you?"

"Riley!" Clovis exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The captive jolted back to life, likely surprised by the relative loudness of Clovis' reaction. "That was it. Your proper name's probably long gone, but your contractors know to look for Riley. There we go." Clovis walked around to the end of the table and hopped up to take a seat on it. "You don't mind if I call you that, do you?"

"The hell you want with me?" was the captive's response, discomforted by what he had just heard.

"I think we can take that as a yes, boss," Blitz remarked.

"My thoughts exactly," the half-fox agreed, taking care not to drop any names in the felid's presence. "And to address your question, we happen to know you've been assigned to us."

"And not in a good way, either," Zen added as he and Blitz moved across from Clovis. The more they changed up the speaking, the better scare effects they could produce.

"Someone's been passing you notes, it seems," Clovis stated as he pulled the hitman's letter out from his cape's inner pocket, one that Zen had no idea even existed until now. He was almost convinced that Clovis had unlimited storage space in his clothes by this point.

"Would you like to tell us what's in here, or should we tell you?" Clovis offered, tapping the letter in his palm like a disappointed school teacher with a meter stick.

Riley cleared his throat and turned his head to Clovis. "Target info. Bio, appearance, hotspots, things like that."

"And might I ask who you were hunting today?"

"What makes you think I'd tell you?"

"Well, as you can see, or not, rather, you're not going anywhere until you do," Clovis pointed out, motioning towards the torches. "You know, prolonged exposure to dreadroot fumes can complicate breathing, and you have been in here for quite some time..."

"Look, I forget the names, but they work for some dude called Clovis, alright?" Riley quickly yelled back, still heavily breathing. "He's some spymaster or something who's been sticking his nose out where it ain't supposed to be."

"How did you get this letter, Mr. Riley?" Clovis continued his questioning. "A friend tells me someone from the Black Water house paid you a visit this afternoon?"

"Black Water? The hell would they want me for?"

"Well, they gave you the note," Zen interjected. "The exchange happened right in front of me."

"And me, for that matter," Blitz added on.

"Nice try, though," Clovis sneered.

"That guy was a messenger. He didn't give me the orders, not directly," Riley spouted off again, his words quickly slamming into each other.

Clovis raised an eyebrow, interestedly. "Now that's something I didn't know," he remarked, rubbing his hands together. "I like this. We're in business."

"If the Black Water rep didn't give you the orders, who did?" Blitz took his turn to ask a question.

Riley stared in Zen's general direction, unsure to his actual location. "Because I'd tell you that, eh? My clients always come first. I've nothing to share with you."

Clovis shrugged in response. "Alright then," he said, jumping off the table and walking behind Riley. "I understand."

Riley did not like where this was headed. "What's he doing?" he nervously inquired.

"There's a reason I don't do forced memory probes," Clovis elaborated, pulling two mana crystals out of his cloak and placing one in each hand. "It's an extremely painful process and the experience is usually not well received. But if they do one thing, they  _always_  give me what I want."

"What the..."

"I'm not going to lie, I enjoy talking to you, Mr. Riley," Clovis spoke over the cat's objections. "And it would be a shame if our conversation had to conclude like this. So, I'm giving you the option to avoid it," he sinisterly offered as he placed one hand on either side of Riley's head, near the cranial area. Riley became even more unnerved, the cold touch of the crystals ramming against his temples.

"Thoughts?" Clovis pressed, expecting a decision.

Riley took a deep breath, trying to regain composure. "You win, alright?" he relied, only slightly panicked. "That note was given to me by a guild master for a mercenary corps. His... name's slipped my mind. I don't think he even brought it up actually."

Zen picked up the letter Clovis left on the table and inspected it as Clovis relinquished Riley's head. "There we go. That wasn't difficult, was it?" Clovis spoke as he pocketed the crystals again.

"Mercenary corps, eh?" Blitz noted. "Boss, you got very popular very quickly."

"I don't consider that a bad thing," Clovis added.

"Is this their logo on the letter here?" Zen inquired, turning the text to the cat and pointing at the upper left corner. Riley squinted to try and make it out, but was unsuccessful.

"Describe it."

"Two swords, crossed behind...that is a Human skull, if I didn't know any better."

"Yeah, that should be them," Riley affirmed. "What exactly are you planning on doing?"

"Your targets have piqued our interest is all," Blitz half-explained. "Just going to see if we can't...lend a hand."

"You're sure you don't have the name," Zen pressed, certain that Riley was hiding something.

"My employer, no," Riley answered sincerely. "Your merc group's called...called The Fang if I remember correctly. Got dealings all over the place."

"Why would they be after someone like Clovis?" Zen continued. Already Riley was proving to be very valuable, but maybe he had something else to share.

He was disappointed by the response. "I'm sorry...but, I don't know. I just take jobs as they come to me. Don't ask why or how, I just do it." He looked up in Zen's general direction. "You ain't gonna kill me now are you?"

For once in his life, Clovis actually looked concerned for someone else's well being. "Come now, my friend, after what you just told us? You've done us a great service."

"And I betrayed my contractors," Riley hissed in response. "They will find me, you know. They don't like their jobs going south."

"Not much we can do in that regard, unfortunately," Clovis remarked, and Riley began to despair at thoughts of The Fang and the inevitable mob of enforcers coming his way. Almost everyone in the room could tell Riley was on the verge of panicking entirely.  _A shame_ , Clovis thought,  _for someone who had maintained his composure so well up to now_. "We'll also be taking this letter, if it's quite alright. And, thank you for your time, Mr. Riley." The spymaster then knocked on the door four times, the signal for Thom to unlock it again.

Zen folded up the paper and handed it back to Clovis. "So what about me then?" he whispered, trying not to let Riley overhear. "Your guys find anything for me?"

Clovis' ears perked again at that question. "Ah, yes. We did, as a matter of fact." He briefly paused to think and then made a proposal. "Hmm..MacMillan's, five-thirty tomorrow evening? I'll send Blitz with your payment."

"My regards," Zen thanked as he heard the lock slide off of the door. Politely, he walked around Clovis and pushed the door open for him.

Riley leaned over and saw both the full- and half-wolf exiting the room. "Hey, hey!" he called after them. "What about me, huh? You gonna let me go or what?"

Clovis turned back to Riley from the corridor. "Oh, no. We're letting you go," Clovis explained. "And in fact, this Polar Fox here is going to show you out of the building right now." He then nodded to Zen, who shut the door behind him with an almost disheartening  _slam_. Blitz walked towards the table and leaned on it with both hands.

"What does that mean, you're showing me out?" Riley asked.

"Just look at the light, mate," Blitz calmly instructed as he pulled back his eye patch. "This will not hurt a bit."


	2. Part II: Beer, Baths and Brooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date of the hearing draws closer as Keith and Natani prepare to plead their case. Zen, Clovis and Blitz begin their investigation into The Fang. Evals has more fun with Michelle.

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Part II: Beer, Baths and Brooms

Chapter 9

Morning sunlight poured in through the starboard side porthole of the Quantum, catching the napping fox squarely in the face. Michelle cringed for a second or two, adjusting to the new level of brightness, and considered yanking the sheets back over her head for another half-hour or so. She and Evals were off-duty until it was time to cast off back home, so until then they effectively had the next few days all to themselves. To do whatever they felt like doing. Until then, life was good.

Except for one thing that needed to be checked on. As lovely as some additional rest sounded, Michelle sleepily opened an eye, rolled over onto her back, and moved the sheets down to about waist height. Grabbing the back of the bed frame, she pulled with her lower arms and arched her back as much as possible. She was seeing if the bandages around her chest had gained any more slack since yesterday, and she was disappointed when she didn't feel any. Her gender was still quite female, and she collapsed onto the bed again and exhaled with resignation.

Still not fully awake, Michelle rolled back over to her right side, facing the wooden wall of her cabin. She was considering going back to sleep for a little bit, but unfortunately the porthole was causing plenty of issues. Instead, she just ended up staring down the wall, feeling tired but not really having a way to fix that without working for it.

A rustling of sheets came from behind her, followed by a warm, strong arm wrapping itself gently around her midsection. "Everything alright, Michelle?" a voice calmly asked her. Michelle recognized it, but for whatever reason couldn't place it at the moment. All she knew was that it made her feel secure, protected, and she liked that very much.

She whimsically sighed in response, turning her head slightly towards the ceiling. "Just personal things. Things I can't really fix right now."

"I see," was the response. "Is it something I can help with?"

Michelle giggled for a second. "Not really. But..thank you."

"Maybe I can do..something else for you then?"

"Is this going where I think it is?"

"Shall we find out?"

Michelle smiled and turned her head upwards, eyes still only half-open and mind not completely awake yet. "Evals, you dog," she said as her mouth met with another one. The kiss itself felt sensational. No other words seemed to do it justice. Simply perfect. Both parties held it indefinitely, passionately, each of them hesitant for the moment ever to end...

...or until Michelle's brain finally registered that Evals was on the receiving end of it. Her eyes immediately sprung open in terrorized surprise and the ensuing scream echoed throughout the entire interior of the Quantum and most likely the majority of the shipyard as well. Michelle sat herself upright, holding her tongue out and haphazardly scraping the taste of dog out with her hands, while Evals continued to lie on the bed, ebulliently laughing at the top of his lungs.

"Morning, Mike!" he yelled through tears, still thinking this joke was funnier than anything he had ever done to his vulpine friend in the past. He had finally managed to get in a smooch with Michelle. Properly this time. "Victory is mine!" he howled, holding a fist to the air in celebration.

"Why are you in here?" the vixen angrily demanded, and then started to despair as a dark thought crossed her mind. "You...you didn't...did you..?"

Evals snickered through closed teeth and sat himself up as well. "Calm down, I was only in here for a few minutes. I just wanted to check on you," he said, tugging at the collar of his shirt. "See? Fully dressed and everything."

Michelle sighed with relief, as Evals slowly, gingerly brushed a hand over her lengthy, soft, bushy tail. "Though, it was very hard for me to resist such a... _foxy_  individual," he remarked with a sly grin.

Michelle blushed very hard when she felt that abnormal tingling feeling jolt up her spine, and there came a  _slap_  right afterwards. A couple seconds later Evals was massaging the left part of his face, near the jowls. "Well,  _I_  thought it was witty," he remarked as Michelle jumped out of the bed and went for a clean shirt out of the dresser.

"Also, the only reason 'victory was yours' was because I wasn't awake yet," Michelle sneered as she pulled out a more colorful vestment to offset her black trousers: a deep red short-sleeve to be precise. "That would have never happened otherwise."

"How did it feel, if I could ask?" Evals inquired as he rose from the bed.

Michelle blushed again in recollection that moment. "...not bad. I..kinda liked it," she began, but then shook her head rigorously. She leered at Evals and pointed a finger at him forcefully. "And I'm pretty sure that's only my girl side talking, so don't you dare quote me on that!" she pointed out, rushing her sentence.

Evals chuckled again, hands relaxing in his trouser pockets. "In any case, Mike, I got some good news for you," he reported.

"Regarding what, exactly?"

"Well...you know, as much as I love having Michelle over, I like having my old friend with me too. So I did a little reading last night, and I think I found a way to patch things up."

Michelle paused putting on the shirt, with only her arms through the sleeves. "What do we need to do?"

"I had to break into Natani's room, but I have the book and a good share of mana crystals. I just need you around to cast the reversion spell."

Michelle's ears twitched for a second as she leered at the dog. "Please tell me you didn't actually break into..." she started.

"Yeah, I'm hoping there's a screwdriver on board somewhere."

"What did you do?"

"I may have had to kick the door in," Evals confessed. "There might also be a splinter in my foot padding. Still need to do something about that."

"You dumb, dumb doggie, you," Michelle sighed as she pulled her head through the shirt's third opening.

"Hey, this dumb, dumb doggie just found a way to fix your problem. And he also covered for you when Keith asked about you."

Michelle rubbed her head for a few seconds. "You're right, I apologize," she responded. "So, when are we going to do this..reversion, you called it?"

"I'll need a few seconds to get the materials ready, but how about we do it over dinner?" Evals offered. "I'm pretty sure it's my turn to cook anyways."

"Works, I suppose," the vixen accepted, giving herself a passing glance in the wall-mounted mirror. She paused and turned to face her reflection more directly, thinking back on the remark Evals had made the day before. He was right: Michelle  _was_  very attractive, and she stood there mesmerized by how truthful that statement was for a few moments.

"Uh, Mike?" Evals asked after some time passed. "Are you being attracted to your own reflection again?"

The male half of Michelle, more specifically the half that wasn't currently overtaken by his body's physical beauty, snapped out of his stupor and abruptly turned away from the mirror. "You saw nothing!" she quickly stammered. "And yes, dinner sounds excellent. Let's do dinner."

Evals waited to answer for a second, staggered by the speed the vixen spoke under duress. "Alright, let's, let's do dinner," he slowly responded, trying to make sure he understood his companion correctly. "I'll...make it special for you."

Michelle nodded again, covertly satisfied with the result. Or at least until another thought crossed her mind. "And this isn't a date, okay? I'm still a guy!"

"Only in spirit," Evals countered as he moved towards the door. "You're still Michelle to me until then."

"Stop calling me that!" the vixen yelled back, a smirking Evals exiting the room and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

 

Natani was still well asleep when morning broke in through the palace room's windows. The room the Basitins had situated her in was quite expansive, or at least by her standards. The bed was comparatively large, and the trunk at the foot of it coupled with the two or three dressers provided the wolf more than ample storage space for her belongings. Natani could not think of the last time she had slept as well as she had last night.

She obviously considered that a good thing. More often than not, Natani's travel arrangements either consisted of a cramped room at the village inn or a sleeping bag underneath a canvas tarp. Not that she minded standard fare when it came to lodging, but it was nice to break away from it every now and again. Plus, Basitins were nothing if not hospitable to friends of the state. So Natani enjoyed this sort of high life, even if it was just for a few days. It was a nice time to relax, ironically, despite being the third party in an assassination attempt and a spying operation. The additional sleep was a nice benefit as well, and today Natani was trying to get in as much as she could.

She rolled over and pressed a pillow against her face in an attempt to avoid greeting the sun for as long as possible. Natani was in that enjoyable state where she was both asleep, but not so far in where she was unaware of her surroundings. A time she loved to use just to think. About everything, or nothing, depending on how she felt at the time. It was a good way for her to clear her head she found, yet another feeling she enjoyed experiencing.

Zen was taking up the bulk of her thoughts at the moment, and for a very good reason. Zen had not contacted Natani ever since he first told her about Clovis and the deal he struck with him. It was unnerving, and Natani was rightfully worried about him. On the one hand, she felt relatively confident that he was just fine. His aura hadn't completely disappeared from her mind, as it would have if he was unconscious, or worse. But then, on the other hand, that wasn't really saying much. All that meant was he was alive and functioning. For all she knew about his location, he could be in a jail cell, and considering how sleazy and behind-the-back Clovis could be at times, that was not an impossibility.

No, she reassured herself. That is not what's happening. Zen might be reckless at times, but he was smart enough to know when he was being set up. The day Zen lets Clovis get the better of him to that severe a degree is the same day Natani starts wearing dresses in public, and both of the Magi Brothers knew that was never going to happen.

Natani's train of thought didn't go much further than that, because that was when a suppressed scream of terror ripped through her ears, and reflexes sat her bolt upright in her bed. Her breathing was shallow for a few moments as she tried to recover from her near-heart attack as her eyes darted around the room, trying to find the noise's source. After failing to do so, she leaned over to her left to better glance out of one of the room's many ornate windows, overlooking the majority of the Eastern Basidian Isles. Did come from outside then? This early in the morning? The streets were practically barren, as the Basitin work schedule didn't start for at least another hour and a half.

But then, that implied that it could have only come from... Natani focused on the background of the scenery, at the idle shipyard currently being glared down by the rising sun.

She pondered the idea for a second, then exhaled disappointedly for even considering the thought.  _Physics, Natani. For Gods' sakes._  No amount of volume would ever carry a shout that far of a distance, through a solid stone medium and into Natani's ears. Really, what was she thinking? This was probably why Natani didn't count herself as a morning person: because her pre-coffee mind did things like this. She shrugged the event off after a few seconds, and then rolled her eyes back and fully collapsed back onto the bed again, ready to go back to that lovable snoozing status. She gently closed her eyes again...

"Uh, Mr. Wolf? Is everything okay?" a young voice interrupted her return. Natani reluctantly, drowsily opened her right eye and glanced off to the side of the bed, a brown-furred Basitin standing there to greet her. She was definitely younger than Keith, if the pitch of her voice and mannerisms were anything to go by. Natani's vision was still blurred a bit by her rude awakening, but her visitor proudly sported a black cloth version of the Basitin field uniform, underneath a bright yellow cape and shoulder piece.

Natani had met the juvenile before on the Na'Rella, and had to think hard to recall the name associated with the face. "Mmmmmmmmmadelyn. Right?" were the sounds her voice made, her brain not at full operating capacity quite yet.

Madelyn's expression swiftly transitioned from concern to enthusiasm. "You remember me!" she exclaimed. "How are you? It's been a while!"

"Mhm," Natani sleepily acknowledged, rubbing her hands up and down her face in an attempt to wake herself up. "Maddie, as much as Mr. Wolf loves talking to you, he needs his coffee first. Know where I can find some?"

"Right here, actually," Madelyn answered. She walked over the foot of the bed, where she had parked a small tray on the wooden trunk. "Keith told me you might need it, so he sent me in with some. Here you are!" she happily explained as she transported a steaming, white ceramic mug back to Natani and offered it to her.

Natani sat herself up and peered into the mug, studiously examining the dark brown brew within. After a second, she simply smiled at the young Basitin officer and accepted the drink. "I like you, squirt," she thanked as she took a quick sip of the brew. She held it in her mouth for a few moments before tilting her head back to formally imbibe it. "It's dark," she noted, cringing slightly at the bold bitterness of the flavor.

"It's native Basitin roast, according to Keith. I can take it back if you don't like it?"

Natani grinned back at Madelyn. "You kidding? This is great," she praised, gladly taking another drink. Madelyn was a good kid, to say the least. Quirky at the worst of times, but very useful and fun to have around everywhere else. She was also a member of the military's Infiltration Unit, from what Natani recollected. It was essentially just a fancy way of saying Madelyn was very good at masking her presence. Her training made her very hard to track and even harder to find. In fact, often times she seemed to have a very bad habit of inexplicably showing up out of...

"Wait a minute," Natani thought out loud, the coffee's full effects starting to get to work. "How did you even get in here?"

"Through the door, of course!" Madelyn answered with a small laugh. "How else?"

"Except that I locked the door last night," Natani pointed out. "So how would..."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Madelyn interrupted, not paying Natani's lament any more attention. She jammed her hand into her cloak's pocket and, after a couple seconds, pulled out a twice-folded piece of parchment and handed it over to the wolf. "This is for you too!" she announced.

Natani took another swig of coffee as she accepted the parchment and unfolded it with her free hand. She recognized the official Eastern Basitin coat of arms and wax seal in the lower right corner, and from a quick inspection of the writing, it seemed to be a formal summons to Keith's hearing concerning diplomatic relations with the Forest Wolf tribe. Moreover, she was to appear as a witness to the events that had transpired during her travels with the ambassador general and testify as much as possible to that end. The letter also called for her to present herself in the general assembly hall this evening, and that tardiness would be unbecoming and unacceptable.

In other words, the message contained nothing Natani didn't already know, and she indifferently stuffed the note into her shirt's chest pocket, not giving it a second thought. "So I pretty much just got invited to attend a hearing I was going to anyways," she summarized, unimpressed. "Lovely."

"Well, yeah," Madelyn said, a little irked at the labyrinthine Basitin bureaucracy as well. "But it's just how those stuffy higher-ups are. If it isn't written down, it doesn't mean a thing."

"Hey, careful saying that around Keith, alright?" the wolf cautioned. "What happened to you two anyways? You used to work for him, right?"

"Mmm hmm!" the Basitin nodded. "But then my mom got angry, and I had to go home, and I didn't get to see him for a while..."

"Sorry to hear that, Maddie," Natani sympathized as she downed the remainder of her breakfast.

"No need to be!" Madelyn cheerfully responded. "I got a promotion at the end of it, too, so it wasn't all bad!"

Natani pulled back the rest of the sheets and stood up to return her mug. "It's like everyone we know is moving up the ladder somehow," she said as she set the vacated mug down and moved to her dresser. "So what does that make you now? Captain?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Wolf!" Madelyn crisply answered and shot a salute in Natani's direction. "First Lieuten..er,  _Captain_  Madelyn Adelaide, on duty!"

"Alright, alright, nice to hear," Natani acknowledged, waving a hand for the Basitin to put her hand back down. She pulled a black cape out from one of the drawers and threw it over her back. Madelyn tilted her head in skepticism as the wolf secured the vestment to her green shirt with a quick overhand knot.

"You're not going to change your shirt?" she curiously asked.

"No need to," Natani responded, tugging at the knot she just made. "Changed my clothes last night."

"Why did you do that?"

Natani shrugged. "Force of habit, probably. I do a lot of sleeping outdoors, Maddie, and a trick you use to keep your clothes warm while camping is to sleep in them the night before."

"Oh," Madelyn said back, with a small amount of intrigue. "Maybe I should try that!"

"You don't need to, though," Natani chortled. "You have your own room. In the palace no less. Your clothes are already preheated."

"But maybe I'm on a mission. Up north! Where the Polar Foxes are! I'll need to do that," Madelyn enthusiastically noted. Natani really couldn't do much else but smile at that comment. Maddie may have been a strange Basitin, but Natani remembered her personality more than anything. During the Na'Rella expedition, it was like she was finally getting a turn to play big brother, and Zen was unable to butt in on it. Granted, their relationship didn't get off to a booming start. It kicked with a sappy love letter and Maddie framing Natani for vandalizing the ship's galley. At least it was all humorous in retrospect. Natani liked this role reversal, and Madelyn seemed to look up to her in a sense. It was weird how it worked out: Natani hadn't seen the young Basitin girl in a long time, and yet none of the familiarity had died off. Again, strange, but Natani liked it.

"It'll make your life easier, trust me," the wolf added, and turned towards the bedroom door. "I take it Keith was looking for me?"

"He just sent me in with the coffee, actually. He didn't mention much of anything else."

"Well, I'm going to find him anyways," Natani said, boldly opening the doors to the room. "He'll probably want to discuss the meeting's talking points and whatnot." She then turned her head over her shoulder. "Did you want to...?"

Natani never finished her question, mostly because she was now addressing a completely empty room. Once more, Madelyn had successfully disappeared from the scene, without a trace or hint of her exit.

The wolf scoffed to herself and shut the door behind her. "We'll bump into each other again."

* * *

 

Chapter 10

Strangely enough, MacMillan's was not particularly busy while Zen waited for Blitz to arrive. A couple hungry customers entering the doors every now and again kept the tavern from feeling barren, but as soon as Kayle sat them down and yelled at the cooks behind the ordering station, there wasn't much else to be done that night. Zen had taken a seat at the main bar this time, mostly because Kayle was the closest thing he had to a friend at the moment. In general, Zen despised being alone if there was someone else around he knew. Even then, he technically didn't  _know_  Kayle, unless making passing eye contact with her and chatting up her uncle qualified as knowing her. The wolf was relatively confident it didn't.

It was still nice to have someone to talk to while he was waiting, though. And by the pub's clock Blitz was actually behind schedule a bit, about five minutes' worth. The fox was characteristically late to most of his arranged meetings, and once Zen accepted that fact it started to become less of a bother. Kayle was decent company either way, and Zen thoroughly enjoyed conversing with her. Frankly, had Blitz not shown up at all, Zen would not have minded spending the rest of his evening with the bartender, just talking. Zen liked that a lot. Apart from Natani, there were not many people Zen could just sit down with, have a drink and...well, talk.

Maybe he was aided slightly by the observations he made about the green-eyed, auburn-haired bartender during his first meeting with Blitz. Almost all of Zen's inferences regarding Blitz's niece were correct. Very well mannered, friendly, too much so at times, intelligent, and, most distinctly, outgoing. The latter an anomaly amongst Fox Keidran to say the least. Most of the foxes Zen knew were introverts: shy and mostly quiet, with only a few really good friends and distant relationships everywhere else. That was the status quo for Zen's canid brethren, which was why he was pleasantly surprised when it came to Blitz and his relatives. Sociable and adventurous were high on the list of adjectives one wouldn't use to describe foxes in general, and yet, here they were. Maybe that's why they enjoyed living in the heart of Wolf country. Like minded individuals, Zen figured. Maybe that was also why he enjoyed working with Blitz. Or talking to his niece here. The implications were practically endless.

Kayle dropped off a check at one of the tables near the center of the pub and ventured back to the bar, near Zen's vicinity. She casually glanced at the clock above the door as she ducked down to grab a couple tall glasses.

"Everything alright, Kayle?" Zen asked as he munched on one of the peanuts sitting in a bowl next to him. From his view, only the Coastal Fox's burnt red, black-tipped tail was visible, peeking up from behind the bar like a periscope.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she responded as she jumped up and moved over to one of the massive kegs behind her. "Uncle Blitz usually tries to be a little more punctual than this, though."

"He's also carrying sensitive info with him," Zen pointed out. "And Blitz is smart enough not to be caught with it. 'sides, we're not in a rush, are we?"

Kayle nodded as she filled the two glasses. "Fair enough," she admitted. "I really do need to trust him more, don't I?"

"Sounds like you already do," Zen noted, cracking open another peanut. "I mean, how long have you been living with him? A couple years now, right?"

"Yeah, and he doesn't charge me rent or anything. He just gave me a room when I moved in."

"Your uncle's a good Keidran," Zen said as he flipped another nut into his mouth. "Or at least when he's not busy trying to interrogate someone."

"He knows what's important to him," Kayle explained as she brought the glasses back over to the bar and placed one in front of Zen. "And he does everything he can to protect it."

"I know how he feels," Zen said, gripping the glass and raising it towards Kayle. "Have I told you about my brother yet?"

"Don't believe so," Kayle answered, tapping her glass with Zen's. The both of them took a drink together before she continued her thought. "What does he do?"

"He's my partner for a lot of our contracts. He's out on a special assignment at the moment, though."

"How do you mean? Like one of Clovis' odd jobs?"

"Not really," Zen pensively replied, taking another swig of beer. "It's more of a bodyguarding job if anything. See, he's really good friends with this Basitin, who happens to be the Eastern Isles' ambassador..." The wolf caught himself starting to ramble and put a stop to it immediately. "It's kind of a long story. I won't bore you with it."

"Is it classified? Bet it's classified," Kayle probed, cracking open a peanut of her own.

Zen cocked an eyebrow. "Do I look like a person who cares about whether something's classified or not?" he rhetorically asked.

The vixen briefly looked over Zen for a second. "Not on the surface, no," Kayle answered, washing the nut down with another drink. "So why don't you want to tell it?"

"I just told you. It's long, tedious, and, above everything else, boring!"

Kayle smiled and leaned on the bar. "Zen, I might have known you for all of..what, three days?"

"Three, really? Could have sworn it was two."

Kayle laughed a bit before continuing. "But I can tell you right now that you are absolutely  _not_  a boring guy."

Zen returned the smile and leaned his head against his hand. "What would you have done if I was?"

The Coastal Fox shrugged. "Probably would have handed the bill to you ages ago."

"Huh, so that's how it is with you," Zen jocularly responded. "Trick a guy into buying you a round and kick him out if you don't like him?"

"Who says I don't like the guy in question?"

"Depends. Am I the one buying the beer?"

Instead of a verbal response, Zen was nicely, unexpectedly gifted a small kiss on the right cheek. His expression could be described as shocked, but that probably wasn't the right word. He liked where the conversation's mood was going: the nice mellow feeling created when he could actually talk about the deep issues with someone who wasn't Natani. And even then, he didn't have a huge number of female friends. Kayle was arguably as close to a female companion he had in a long time. Knowing that, Zen had a hard time being completely comfortable with this sort of feeling, one that he probably could never replicate with his companions or even Natani. He liked it, though. Kayle had only recently been introduced to his life, but she left a mark almost immediately. Zen was grateful for that, and there weren't many things he could say that about.

"You're a good guy, Zen," she softly whispered. "And don't think about changing that."

"Yeah, mate. Don't you change a bit," came a sarcastic voice off to Zen's left. The wolf's eyes ventured over in that direction, and whatever quasi-shocked feeling Zen had before was replaced by the real thing. Kayle leaned back past Zen's head as well, and noticed a mischievously grinning Polar Fox sitting on the stool adjacent to Zen's, leaning one hand on the bar, munching on a hijacked peanut, twirling a knife around in his right hand, interestedly spectating the scene before him.

"Hi, Uncle!" Kayle enthusiastically greeted. "When did you get here?"

"At a pretty good time, apparently," Blitz wittily responded as he raised his facemask again. "Nice to see you two are getting along."

Zen sat at his stool, petrified. Suaveness aside, Zen's only social weakness resided in the awkward area. He stiffly shuffled his stool back from Kayle, trying to avoid direct eye contact with Blitz. "Uh, uh..hiya Blitz," he frozenly stuttered out. "I know this doesn't look good..."

Blitz glanced at his niece with suspicion. "Did you spike his drink or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Zen, calm down. You're cool," Blitz reconciled, and noticed a customer signaling for service. "Kayle, I think one of your patrons needs you."

Kayle turned her head and nodded towards in the customer's general direction. "Back in a second," she cheerfully excused herself before beginning her walk over.

Blitz waited for a moment until Kayle was out of hearing range, then turned his attention back to Zen. "Though I will say this makes you part of the family now," he spoke, leaning his back against the bar.

"Family?" Zen repeated. "She just decided to kiss me. It's not like we're officially seeing each other or anything."

"It's pretty obvious she trusts you, mate," Blitz responded, flicking out his knife again. "Which is good, because I happen to also."

"I'm guessing that doesn't usually happen over the course of a couple days with you."

"That it doesn't," Blitz noted, fully opening the blade and holding it this time. "You see, Zen, that's a big, big problem when you're in our business. Trust is not an easy thing to build up."

"Tell me about it," Zen blankly responded, sipping from his glass again. "Clovis and I haven't really had the best work history together, so I know how you feel."

"Does it feel strange?" Blitz asked as he flipped the blade closed and slipped it back into his shirt pocket. "You usually work with your brother for these sorts of things, don't you?"

Zen sighed and turned his head away from the Polar Fox slightly. "Usually," he responded, quietly. "So it does feel strange having you as a cooperative, Blitz. No offense."

"It's fine," the agent shrugged. "You two are probably really close then, after all of your jobs together and everything."

"It's a bit deeper than that," the wolf stated, resting both elbows on the bar. "It's...hard to explain."

"Is it?"

Zen dry swallowed, trying to keep his emotions in check. He hated telling this story. He hadn't even shared it with anyone up to now. Too much pain. Too much confusion. Too much sorrow. Just the thought was enough to make him feel like his skull would split in half. His hands were already shaking, and he could feel his eyes tearing up slightly in addition.

The conversation went dead for a few moments. The wolf turned his head to see Kayle still serving her clients, fast walking from one table to the next.

"The parents died when we were still pups," Zen reminisced.

* * *

 

Templars...got power hungry one day and decided to raid the town. Mom and Pop were the first ones who knew what was going on. They wake me and Nat up, practically yelling at us to get outside. No questions asked. No explanations. No nothing. Just get outside. Go the backyard.

They somehow got us into the woodshed. Thing was stacked high for the winter, just enough room for Nat and me. Parents, got to stay outside. Templars came by, didn't have anything better to do. So they pillage the house, take what they want, usual drill. And they...killed them.

Wasn't even graphic either. It was just one word. One word. That's all they said. Then one quick flash and poof. That was it. Nat had to keep a hand over my mouth, like he was the brave one. I look over at him too. His eyes are shut tight, couldn't bring himself to watch our parents die like that. Hell, he was probably more scared than I was.

We wake up the next day in that damn shed, and Nat's the first one out the door. Sky's grey. Ground's white. Air's cold. But it wasn't snowing. Templars burnt everything they could. No buildings or bodies anywhere. Forest surrounding the village was gone too. Nothing's left. Just me and him.

* * *

 

"Had to live on our own ever since. Didn't bother with anyone or anything else. And I'm never letting anything happen to him."

"Yeah," Blitz said back, deeper and softer than before. He set both of his hands on the bar, leaning over them deep in thought, almost mournfully. "Damn straight."

Zen turned to back the fox, and audibly exhaled. "Look, sorry for being a killjoy," he apologized. "I..said the explanation was hard, but..."

"I understand."

Zen's ears flipped up. "You do?"

"I never lost someone that dear to me like that, and I'm sorry that I can't say I know how you feel," Blitz elaborated, motioning to Kayle. "But I can say I know how you feel when it comes to caring for one person."

Zen observed Kayle a bit longer, as she shuttled food to the corner table where she was originally summoned. Blitz continued his commentary in the meantime. "I never married and I don't have any kids. So one hundred percent of my efforts go towards making that girl smile." The vixen chatted with her customers a bit, any semblance of intelligible speech drowned out in the background.

"The daughter you never had?" Zen inquired.

"The daughter I never had," Blitz repeated. "Spot on. Probably the only family I'll ever have too, apart from her old man." And then he made a most intriguing statement to follow it up.

"And I'd like to do something about that, if it's okay with you."

"Blitz?"

"You said you and your brother had been living by yourselves ever since, right?"

"Yeah. We've been making do," Zen replied, turning in his chair to face the Polar Fox directly. "We already have a good lease on a house, if that's where this is going."

"Oh, Gods no. My flat has enough of a time just holding me and Kayle," Blitz responded in his usual, lighthearted fashion. "But, listen. Once the dust settles and this whole problem gets wrapped up. If you, or your brother, are ever around and need a friend," Blitz held out his hand as he carefully selected his words.

"Kayle and I'll be here, alright?" The bandana and eye patches obscured the authenticity of his expression a bit, but the determined, forceful gaze of his other eye was all Zen needed to see. "We can't replace what you lost, but we can definitely try."

He paused for a while before nodding back to Blitz and gripping his wrist in acceptance. "This means a lot, Blitz. Thank you." Between this and Kayle's kiss just moments ago, Zen understandably started to feel just a bit overwhelmed by the vulpine family's affinity for him. Just saying that "it meant a lot" was a gigantic understatement. Blitz was right. The scars left by the Templars after that night never healed, and likely never would. The offer meant much, much more than just friendly support. Blitz seemed well aware of that, and even if he didn't, Zen couldn't have appreciated his friendship more than right now. For the first time in an extremely long while, he felt...not alone. And he liked it.

Kayle had finished tending to her customers for now and returned behind her bar, playfully tossing a coin bag into the air. "This is a fun job, but I swear, some people have no idea how to tip properly."

"In the good way or bad?" Blitz asked, relinquishing Zen's arm and turning his attention back to the other fox.

"I kid you not, five silver on an eighty silver bill." Kayle caught the bag on its fall and secured it to her pants. "I don't believe I did anything wrong."

"Kayle, some people just are just like that. There's always one of them. Don't take it personally," Blitz confided, then swung his shoulder bag over onto the bar. "Speaking of taking things personally, Zen, I think I have something for you."

Zen's ears perked as Blitz opened up the bag's main compartment and dug out a sealed letter envelope. Blitz then handed it over to the wolf, who gave the note a quick inspection. Two features signaled that the envelope came from Clovis' desk: the bright red wax stamp, emblazoned with a fancy capital "C" that the half-fox used in all formal communications, and the well-penned name of the recipient on the front. "To Sir Sean of the Distant Forest Wolves." The alias Zen used on his last job with Clovis. A rather unusual one in retrospect, but one only two people knew he used, Natani being the second of them.

"So that's why I got your name wrong the first time," Blitz observed.

"The  _Distant Forest Wolves_?" Kayle read skeptically, and then glanced at Zen, with an odd combination of pity and criticism.

Zen stared back at the barkeeper for a second before responding. "I was on a job, got asked what my name was, and I panicked, alright?"

"And you decided to affiliate yourself with not with the Forest Wolves, but the  _Distant_  Forest Wolves," Kayle continued, emphasizing what she found to be the most ludicrous word in that title.

Zen heard the other fox quietly laughing to himself as well. "You have to admit, mate. You could have tried harder," he commented as he started playing with his knife again.

"Yeah, very funny," Zen responded, sliding out his wrist-mounted blade and breaking the envelope's seal with it. "Because you two could have done better."

The two foxes looked at each other for a moment, and smiled when they noticed they were having similar thoughts. "You know, we probably could have," Kayle pointed out, trying to quiet her giggling.

"I hear if you say it enough, it becomes less silly," Blitz teased.

"And I thought you were smart at one point, Zen."

"I get it, I get it," Zen good-naturedly waived off the jokes. "I'll make my fake names more believable next time. Now can we all shut up so I can see what Clovis sent?"

"Yeah, mate. Go for it," Blitz slapped his knife shut and leaned towards Zen. "You sure you're alright sharing this with us? I mean, it's just for you, right?"

"It is, but I don't see the harm," Zen responded, folding back the envelope's opening. Zen inched the parchment out, taking care not to damage it in any major way. The paper was twice folded, symmetrically and crisply, showing that Clovis had taken great care in preparing this note. Whatever it contained was obviously very, very important.

"And inside is..." Zen announced with anticipation as he unfolded the letter.

* * *

 

Chapter 11

The fox and dog sat at opposite ends of the rectangular, almost square table, casually enjoying the evening meal. Objectively, Evals cooked very well. Not nearly as well as Katherin used to back on the Na'Rella, but compared to Mike, Evals was definitely the superior. So when he said he'd do something special for that night, he took it quite seriously. The dog had complained earlier about not having a good steak in a long time, and decided that tonight was the night he fixed that. He cooked off two of them, served with a nice side of boiled potatoes and some biscuits. It was no exaggeration to say Evals took his dinner very seriously, and the presentation value definitely showed.

But although Evals put a lot of effort into making sure everything looked nice, there were a few touches Michelle probably could have done without. Despite her earlier protests about how this was not a date, it looked like Evals went quite out of his way to make it look like one. A three-tiered candelabra was the table's main centerpiece and, seeing as how Evals had dimmed all other light sources, the galley's main means of illumination at the time. A disturbingly sharp scent also hung about densely in the room, and for the longest time Michelle couldn't figure out what it was. It was only when Evals formally brought her dinner over that she deduced that the dog had cleaned himself up for the occasion, and likely nicked a bottle of cologne from somewhere on the ship to that end as well.

Even the dog's mannerisms were uncomfortably romanticized. "So, how did your day go, Michelle?" Evals interestedly asked as he cut off a filet of steak. He smiled innocently at the vixen, who was fixated on her plate, trying not to humor the other canine more than necessary.

"Not a date, Evals!" she firmly stated as she sliced through one of the potatoes. "And stop calling me that."

"Come on now, lighten up!" Evals coaxed, politely chewing on the steak. "You're going to be leaving soon and I don't know when I'll see you again!"

"You work with me, you dolt."

"Well, yeah, but you know I love having you over! Where's the harm in..."

Michelle glared at the dog and rested her hand on her forehead, rubbing it stressfully. "You did this to me last year, and now you're doing it again."

"What?" Evals said as he chomped on another strip of his dinner.

"Evals, there's a pretty good reason why you don't know any girls apart from my alter ego."

"Kat, Flora, Natani for a bit, that one Basitin who started the cargo fire..." Evals rattled off, raising a finger for each name he recited.

"Any girls you've actively been trying to get together with," Michelle revised her statement, narrowing her eyes.

Evals stopped chewing to think on that for a second, but then shrugged when he couldn't think of any other names. "Right. So what's the problem?"

"Not every girl you bump into is going to immediately be attracted to you, okay? I'm okay with all of this, because I've known you for a while and this is just something you do. But if you actually pulled this with someone else, there's a good chance it comes off as creepy."

"I can definitely try it, can't I?"

"And that's when it starts getting weird," Michelle forcefully stated. "Good Gods! Get to know them first and  _then_  you can start doing..whatever it is you call this."

"I call it a nice dinner with a good friend," Evals cheerfully replied, gently wagging his tail as he looked around the kitchen area. "I wonder if I can get some piano music going in here..."

Michelle sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Evals curiously turned his head to the side. "This..doesn't make you uncomfortable, does it?"

"Well..no, not entirely," she apologetically, hesitatingly remarked. "I mean, speaking as a part time girl, if we were seeing each other before this, I'd say that you put a lot of effort into making this look nice. Credit where it's due."

The dog chuckled, satisfied with his work. "Only the best for you, Michelle," Evals melodically remarked after a sip of water.

"Stop calling me that," the vixen barked. "That said, considering that I'm going to be back to my normal self after this, I have to say I find this a bit...strange."

The dog went quiet for a second. "Um, in what ways?"

"Think like this: if you hadn't cast that spell, I was still a guy, and we were eating dinner like we are right now, would you feel comfortable?"

Evals pictured that scene for a moment: Mike sitting across from him, in a very romantic setting, just the two of them... The dog immediately slammed the door on that thought and shook his head rigorously, trying to dislodge the mental image and bar its return to his head. "Yep, that was unnerving," he quickly agreed, still rattled by that thought.

"Do you see my point though?"

Evals swallowed his food and blinked before responding. "Alright, you know what?" he asked, setting his utensils down and leaning on the table. "You're right. I'm sorry, okay? I was kind of a jerk to you this morning and yesterday, and I'm not really sure if this helped at all. I just get really excited when I see her..."

"Just really exited?"

"Quiet, you," Evals woofed. "But like I said earlier, I miss my friend more than I do her. So even if I look like I'm just trying to make the most of her while she's around, it's because I like having you around more."

Evals stopped his monologue there and reflected for a moment. "...if that made sense at all?"

"No, no it did," Michelle returned. "And I..appreciate that, Evals. Thank you," she smiled at her friend. Evals returned the gesture as well.

Michelle then clapped her hands in anticipation and decided to be a little spontaneous for a change. "Right, so let's make this happen," she stated as she began to remove her shirt.

Evals' face went blank for a few moments and his tail began wagging fast enough to create a small breeze. "Uh, Michelle...?"

"Don't read too much into this, I just want to make certain it works," Michelle stated up front as she tossed her shirt off to the side of the galley.

Evals couldn't do much more than stare at the vixen as she reached behind herself to rip through the adhesive bandaging around her torso. "...I mean, I love it, but..should this really be happening here?"

"Why not?" Michelle asked, still working on the bandages. "It's a good a time as any. Plus, these things were getting a little itchy anyways."

"Um...thanks in advance?" Evals uncertainly said as he reached for his textbook next to his seat.

"Thanks for..?" Michelle was about to ask, but then looked down at her chest, gradually expanding with the released pressure of the bandages. She skeptically leered back up at her friend, who was already starting to fixate on that area of the body. Evals fumbled with the requisite mana crystals as he sloppily tried to organize them in a tidy pool in front of him while also trying to focus on Michelle and...other things.

Michelle let out a small sigh and lugubriously shook her head. "You're not going to be able to do this with a straight face, are you?" she asked disappointedly.

"Is there another test we can do?" Evals sheepishly grimaced as he twitchily flipped through the book, like he had overdosed on caffeine.

"Evals, I think this is the first time you've  _not_  wanted to see Michelle like this," the vixen observed, teasingly.

"Well, you didn't really pick an amazing time to start being seductive, Mike!" Evals quickly hissed back.

"Okay, then here's what we'll do," Michelle began as Evals finally found the correct section in his book. "We'll time it. You get X seconds of fan service, but once that's over with, you have to cast the spell. I don't care what you have to do to cast it, but you have to cast it," she proposed.

"...I think I can do that," Evals uncertainly responded, scanning through the spell one final time.

"Alright, then that's what we'll do," Michelle continued. "So, how long would you like me to keep my bandages off for?"

Evals' eyes jumped to the ceiling in thought for a few seconds. "I'm guessing...ten seconds for me to get over it?" he shrugged.

Michelle's eyebrow jumped up. "I'll give you three," the vixen sternly counter-offered, not willing to objectify herself for any longer than necessary.

Evals' gaze narrowed. "Seven."

"Five."

Evals whimpered in reluctance.

"You can do it with five," Michelle reassured the dog.

Evals took a deep breath and steeled himself. "I can do it in five," he repeated, holding his hand over the medium sized, glowing blue stockpile of mana. "I'm ready, Mike."

Michelle gripped the bandages as well, ready to hold up her end of the deal. "We go on three," she informed, and began the countdown. "One..."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute," the dog hastily interrupted, to the vixen's displeasure. "Are we going when you say 'three,' or are you one of those people who counts to three and then says 'go' or something and  _that's_ when it happens?"

"Evals..." Michelle angrily remanded.

"Honest question!" the dog innocently defended. "Does it start when I hear 'three' or..."

"Yes! It happens on three, alright?" she clarified, annoyed by Evals' attention to just this one particular detail.

"Okay, cool," Evals nodded as he set himself up again. "Start from the top again, alright?"

"Sure," Michelle exasperatedly agreed. "Aaaaaand three," she announced, yanking off the remainder of her bandages and discarding them to the side of the table.

She looked around the room curiously as she counted off the time in her head. "You know," the vixen noted out loud. "This...actually doesn't feel bad!" She slumped down in her chair a bit, trying to get more comfortable. "I can see why Kat and Flora did it so much," she continued as her posture caused her to arch her back more. Her ear perked as Evals made some sort of noise between an "urf" and a strangulation, a very peculiar one to say the least.

Michelle's mental clock finally struck five, and she wrapped her arms around her torso to signify the end of the session. "Alright, Evals, that's five. Time to..." Michelle had to stop herself because, once again, she felt confident her words were heard but not registered by the panting dog. Evals was leaning well over the table, almost lying on his plate at the angle he was at. His eyes were still wide with enthrallment, and Michelle almost asked herself if she should have even bothered setting the time limit.

"Uh..Evals?" she confusedly contacted the canine.

"That...was..amazing," Evals praised in bewilderment, looking back down at the vixen. The galley went quiet, save for the panting, as the stunned dog simply stared down at Michelle during that time.

Michelle snapped her fingers, trying to break his trance. "Evals, the spell!" she commanded.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, right!" Evals hastily woofed as he properly sat back in his chair to look over the spell again. He put his hand back over the mana pool, ready to say the word of power...

But then leaned over to his left, looking at the vixen's crossed pant legs. "You know, to be safe, maybe I should also..."

"Evals!" Michelle slammed a fist into the table.

"Okay, okay, spell time," Evals slurred, not even allotting time to space his words. He gaze jumped back to the book, and he found his spot on the page after a second of searching. He found the word of power, and the mana crystals shone intensely bright in anticipation for its saying.

"Aversa pars!" came the command, and for a moment Michelle was unable to see a thing over the mana's detonation. Her field of view was completely overwhelmed by the blue light. Whatever else was going on during this was a complete enigma, and the sudden shut off of light once the spell ended did not help the vision problems either.

But as soon as the fox was able to see again, he inspected his body and was pleased with the result. Mike exhaled with satisfaction and relief, grinning in a way he hadn't been able to in a while. "Brilliant!" he gladly proclaimed as he looked back up at his friend. "Thanks for helping..." His voice trailed off and he was rightly startled as he made a most unusual observation about the dog. His eyes went wide and a hand jumped up to his mouth to hide his expression.

"What? What are we looking at?"

Mike cleared his throat and tried his hardest to sound as innocent as possible. "So, um, here's a question for you," he started. "You know how you lovingly named my...other persona Michelle, right?"

The dog's look went uncomfortably skeptic. "Why are you bringing this up?"

Mike involuntarily snickered, still keeping a hand over his lower face. "No reason," he said, trying to avoid attention. "No reason..."

The dog blinked and Mike finally removed his hand, revealing a very, very amused smile.

"...Evalyn!"

* * *

 

The parliament building on the Eastern Basidian Isles sat just downhill from the royal palace itself, and was kept to more or less the same standards of presentation. The floors were either marble or polished hardwood, though recent renovations had converted the majority of them to the latter, out of preference for any Keidran visitors. The main chamber's ceiling was exquisitely done with a fine crystal chandelier, one of the largest known in existence, if the Templar-sponsored almanac was to be believed. Five main benches near the front of the room, reserved either for jurors or witnesses in most cases, stood proudly as the chamber's main features for conducting business. The benches demeaningly overlooked the comparatively dwarfish witness stand, as a statement of authority Keith did not care for the last time he was there. Along the sides of the main chamber ran two long, expansive areas devoted mostly to senator seating, and a tier above them were a few short rows of seats for spectators. Needless to say, both of those areas would remain mostly vacated for tonight, as this hearing was for the generals' and King Adelaide's eyes and ears only.

Public hearings and speeches happened to be Keith's area of expertise, a mandatory prerequisite for his position. Up to this point, he had reviewed his talking points five times, responded to any possible questions that may arise twice, and even coerced Natani and Madelyn into running a downsized simulation of the event with him as well. Any other Basitin would have characterized this as compulsive behavior, but for the ambassador general, it was just rehearsal. This was one among many reasons he never got nervous or confused on a regular basis: solid preparation for anything and everything that could happen given the situation.

He began reciting his speeches again as he sat with Natani just outside the parliament's side doors, in the nearby courtyard. And much like the building's interior, the courtyard was neatly manicured and landscaped to impress. The tidily mowed grass and paved walkways through the outdoor area were kept almost spotless by the grounds keeping crew that patrolled by no less than three times a day. A few flowerbeds scattered throughout the grassy areas added tasteful amounts of color to the scenery, bordered on all four sides by the building itself, with canopied walkways leading to each wing. It was a perfect venue to clear one's head, and Keith intended to take advantage of it in every way he could.

Natani remained quietly by his side, trying not to break his concentration. She was looking for hiccups in her friend's words, a sort of proofreading. There wasn't a need to focus on her part, as far as she was concerned. She didn't know the science behind it, but she always found that the less she tried to practice speaking, the more convincing it came across. Years of experience with disguising magic made Natani rather decent at improvisation, and even if it was just in the name of science, she wanted to see if she could role-play as herself in a sense.

"...with that in mind, I see no reason to terminate contact with the Wolf tribe's leaders at this time," Keith finished his statement, as he hopped up from the stone bench, saluted Natani and bowed. "Thank you very much for your attention."

Natani offered up a golf clap in response. "Very nice, General. Marvelous," she commented, dignifiedly smiling as if she was critiquing a play. "Though you can probably do without the salute at the end. I mean, you're talking to officers of equal rank."

"Save for the King. If one's above you, they all are," the Basitin corrected. "So, shall we head in?"

"It's a bit early, don't you think?"

"If Sythe is around then I need to make sure we're still on board for this," Keith explained. "The Basitins are going to be annoyed that the Wolves are out to get me, so Sythe is going to try and calm them down."

"Why should he even bother?" Natani asked, standing up from the bench and fixing her cape. "The Basitins know this wasn't a sanctioned hit,"

"Just because the authorities didn't sponsor it, Nat, doesn't mean that there aren't people still trying to get rid of me. We don't know who they are or what they want, but countries have gone to war over less important things in the past."

Natani paused for a second. "Good point," she conceded.

"Nat, if this goes well, once your brother finds out more info, we can stop this war before it even starts," Keith asserted as he began walking down one of the paved pathways through the outdoor area.

Natani followed him closely. "I think I should tell you Zen hasn't contacted me since we were on the ship. I think he knows just as much as we do right now."

"Or he's waiting for a big reveal."

"Zen's not nearly as patient as you think he is, Keith."

"Maybe it's just how his contact works. Nobody said he was getting this information locally."

"I'm pretty sure if Clovis threw a rock out of his manor, he could bounce it off of the roof of our house."

"Nat, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're genuinely worried about something," Keith observed.

Natani grunted and turned her head away from the Basitin. She never liked it when people tried to tell her how she felt. "The last time Zen was this quiet, he ended up unconscious and captured by a guy he was hunting."

Keith glanced over at his friend interestedly. "What was the job, if I could ask?"

"Ugh, let me think," Natani shut her eyes and put a hand to her head. "It was a snatch and grab, I remember helping him out through a mind meld once." She reopened them once she fully recollected the details. "You know something?"

"What?"

"I think he was actually after... _yip_!" Natani froze in place. Her expression was somewhere between terrified and discomforted, resulting in her eyes taking on the former mood and her mouth the latter. Keith turned around to address her, but wasn't quite sure where to start.

"Umm...Nat?" he thought would be a conservative start.

"S-s-something's coming up my leg," Natani quasi-calmly reported, her legs involuntarily shaking as a reflex.

"Like what?" Keith asked, thinking the wolf may have been overreacting slightly. "Are we talking like a spider or..."

He was cut off as he noticed an oblong shaped mass running up the outer side of Natani's right leg towards the waistline. His expression went spooked, but not at the expense of his composure. "Or maybe that thing," he finished.

Natani shifted rigidly as the thing decided to move into the area under her green drake leather shirt. "You aren't going to do anything?" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down.

"Whatever...it is, it hasn't hurt you yet, so I'm going to avoid inciting it."

"And what do I do, just stand here!?"

"Well, yeah, if it keeps it calm."

"Keith...!"

"What else do you want me to do?"

"You could always...gah!" the wolf exclaimed swatting at the object now on her back.

"Nat! Don't get it angry!"

"It was either my bandages or him, and he was starting to..ah!" Natani's hands jumped to her abdominal area. The object then changed its course up past the wolf's torso, towards the neck...

And out peeked the tiny head of a brown, long-eared squirrel, who looked at Natani curiously as the wolf intensely leered back. That squirrel knew what it did, and no amount of cuteness or innocence was going to save it. It even had a pink ribbon neatly tied around its neck, as if it couldn't get any more mind-bogglingly cutesy. Natani almost got sick at how twee this scene was becoming.

"The hell do you want?" she firmly asked the squirrel as it touched its nose with Natani's. It followed up with a small squeak, another pause, and then the squirrel lovingly pushed its head underneath Natani's muzzle, hoping for a stroke.

"I think Mrs. Nibbly likes you, Nat," Keith commented as the rodent continued to brush its head under Natani's chin.

"I think this squirrel can go..." Natani started to threat, but then looked back up at Keith confusedly. "Wait, this thing has a name?"

"Aw, Nibs, what have I told you about going up people's clothes?" Natani turned around to find yet another Forest Wolf, one that she knew through Zen but not much past that. In fact, before the squirrel interrupted her, she was actually going to point out that the Keidran now approaching them was Zen's target during his botched job. His appearance hadn't changed a bit since then either: muddy grey fur, medium length hair neatly done back and tied off. Natani also noticed a section of his hair was missing, as if it had been chewed off by something.

Natani looked down at the squirrel, and then back up at the wolf speedily pacing towards her. "Is this yours?" she blankly pointed at the rodent, its head still peeping out from Natani's neck hole. The squirrel's eyes lit up, glad to see its friend coming to it. Its tail popped up in anticipation as well and started inadvertently tickling Natani's nose. She was forced to lean back to prevent herself from sneezing, as if she had propped herself against an invisible wall.

"How much trouble am I in if it is?" Sythe asked cautiously. He never took chances around assassins, particularly the one standing in front of him. Sythe's relation with the Magi Brothers was nothing short of tangled and convoluted. His uncle hired them to find his ex-fiancée, the brothers got separated, Sythe got sucked into a raid on a Human settlement, got framed for eloping with one of them, one of the brothers got reassigned to find him... It was a very muddy history and Sythe tried not to think about it too much. Then again, he didn't really count on somehow bumping into one of them ever again, so he wasn't quite sure how that would affect the situation.

"Just get it out of my shirt," Natani sternly demanded, not willing to put up with any more of the squirrel's shenanigans.

"Hey, Nibs!" Sythe called to his pet. "You heard the man. Get out of there."

Natani could have sworn she saw the squirrel nod its obedience, and Mrs. Nibbly crawled its way out of Natani's shirt and onto her left shoulder. The squirrel coiled itself up for a moment, and then gracefully bounded from one wolf to the next, landing on the right shoulder of Sythe's white button-down dress shirt. It pressed its head endearingly against Sythe's as he gave her a quick, gentle scratch on the head. "Yeah, you're a good girl, aren't you?"

Both Keith and Natani awkwardly watched Sythe coddle the squirrel for a few moments before the Basitin spoke up. "Sythe? This was strange when you did it yesterday and time hasn't made it any better."

Mrs. Nibbly squeaked disapprovingly at that remark. "Yeah, I don't think he gets it either," Sythe said back to his companion, gently stroking her down the back.

Natani exchanged a look of confusion with her friend. "Soooo, this is the guy who's supposed to  _help_  our situation," the wolf said, keeping her voice down.

"Aster introduced me to him yesterday, and I've bumped into him a few times before," Keith whispered back. "He got here a couple days ahead of us once he caught wind of what happened."

"Is he always this screwy?"

"He's a weird guy, I know, but he's also the guy who's been keeping the Templars calm and the entire Wolf tribe off our backs. Let's just live with it and move along."

Natani leered at Mrs. Nibbly, contemptuously. "...I don't trust that squirrel."

Keith skeptically looked back up at the wolf in response. "Sorry, what?"

"I. Do not. Trust. That squirrel," Natani enunciated.

Keith went silent for a moment. "Let me get this straight: you think Sythe is a whackjob because his best friend is a squirrel. But, instead of not trusting  _him_..."

"You heard me."

"You know how dumb that sounds, right?"

"I've said dumber stuff before."

"This is pretty high up there, if we're being fair."

"Are we headed inside soon?" Sythe asked the bickering Basitin. Mrs. Nibbly sat on his shoulder idly, looking back and forth between him and Natani.

Keith turned back to the diplomat as if nothing had happened during that time. "We were just about to, actually. Care to join us?"

"Why not. I can use the company," Sythe accepted. Mrs. Nibbly squeaked her agreement as well, and Keith could have sworn she nodded at him as well.

Natani pointed at the squirrel again. "That thing isn't coming into the parliament building with you, is it?"

"She," Sythe corrected. "And yes, as a matter of fact."

Natani narrowly glared at her counterpart. "There's no way you're serious," she said. Much like her brother, Natani did not care for excessive amounts of bizarreness when it came to her contacts, and Sythe was as weird as it came on her scale. Between his overly affectionate relationship with the squirrel and the squirrel herself, the unusualness of the entire scenario was overwhelming. Too many mental alarms were going off to justify the potential usefulness of Keith's ally, no matter what he said to defend it. Natani was fully convinced that this wolf, despite the accolades he had received, was not up to scratch in any way.

The Basitin, however, was a bit more accepting. "I could probably get her in if I asked," he offered.

Sythe turned his head to his companion and smiled. "What do you think, Nibs? Want to see me stop a war?" Mrs. Nibbly hopped off of her master's shoulder and onto Keith's, and, in one of the most nauseatingly cute scenes Natani had ever seen, raised both of her front legs and wrapped them as far as they could reach around Keith's neck. She didn't really have a problem for things being cuter than they had a right to be, but this little act had enough ham in it to feed her and Zen for a month.

Even Keith was unsure of how to react to the squirrel, and just looked at it in a stunned manner for a while instead. "Uh, you're welcome," he finally said to the creature at the lack of a better sentence.

Sythe laughed silently to himself. "She knows when she's being treated, Keith," he stated, then beckoned Mrs. Nibbly to return to him with a short, sharp whistle. The squirrel leaped back onto his shoulder and then scampered up to his head to lie down.

Natani and Keith lost their words to describe Sythe's new hat as he casually strolled by them towards the doors leading out of the courtyard. "Now then, let's see what we can do about this little problem, eh?" he casually asked his new friends in passing, as Mrs. Nibbly shut her eyes for a quick nap.

* * *

 

Chapter 12

"Will you require anything else tonight, Mr. Clovis?"

"Quite content where I am, thank you though," Clovis responded to the Keidran attendant as he leaned back against the pool's upper lip, interlocked his hands and stretched his arms. "Do send in Zen when he comes by?"

"Absolutely, sir. When should I expect him?"

"...five minutes, ten at the worst."

"I'll watch for him," she complied and bowed slightly. "Good night, sir."

"To you as well," the half-fox said as he reached over to his right for a washcloth. The attendant nodded and obediently shut the door to the bathhouse behind her. Clovis dampened the cloth in the comfortably hot water, wrung it out, then rested his head on the deck, draping the washcloth over his eyes. A deep sigh ensued as Clovis allowed himself to clear his mind and simply relax.

The room was termed as Clovis' public bathhouse, but it functioned more as a small public pool. The dimensions were right for it; the bath was a five meter square indentation in the wooden floor, with a ledge one could sit on around the perimeter. The ceramic glowed bright blue, thanks to an enchantment that kept the water at exactly thirty-seven degrees Centigrade at all times. Around the walls hung a few evenly spaced gas lanterns, but Clovis preferred to keep them off when he was the sole occupant of the bath, leaving the iridescent blue water to light the room. Against the far wall lay a shelving unit containing towels, washcloths and small bottles of liquid soap. Clovis had taken one of each: he wore the towel as he let his lower half of his body soak, the washcloth was folded and still resting over his face, and he had just begun to squirt some of the soap into his section of the bath. Money may not be able to buy happiness, but according to Clovis, it certainly helps.

The fully windowed back wall caught the last few rays of the sun setting behind the cityscape, and the expansive forest the Wolves called home beyond that. The forest Clovis called home. He hadn't visited the continent's beaches since he was a pup, so naturally his affinity for the Wolves of the Western Forests was much stronger. He didn't mind not having nearly as close ties to the other half of his heritage. It may as well not have even existed, for all he knew or cared about it. Almost everything he needed in life came from the forest and the city, and life among the Forest Wolves was nothing short of excellent.

Despite being poked fun at for his mixed blood when he was younger, Clovis considered himself part of the pack through and through. Hybrid Keidran like himself were not necessarily uncommon; a few of Clovis' most loyal agents were hybrids themselves. However, they often found themselves in the discomforting position of not really belonging to either one tribe or the other. It was an unhappy medium for many of them, but Clovis fixed that very quickly once his spy ring was fully operational. Granted, his mother's genes still left some physical marks, most distinctly and infamously the black "socks and gloves" that tended to hint at his vulpine heritage. But past that, almost every denizen of the Forest Wolves took Clovis to be one of them, unconditionally.

Which meant that, in an indirect way, he did feel a little bad for misleading Zen with the information he promised. Blitz would probably have a word or two to say to him tomorrow as well, once he found out the important message he was entrusted to deliver was essentially a business card. But he considered it necessary. To the spymaster, all data was sensitive until he had a reason to think otherwise. This information in particular was quite special indeed. Clovis was no stranger to these types of jobs, and he had uncovered some rather tasty morsels of information before. However, this one, oh,  _this_  one had to be one of his favorites to date. A remarkably virulent tip that could change Zen's outlook on the entire situation. Clovis smiled widely and licked his teeth at the prospect of sharing his most recently acquired secret.

Some mumbling came from behind the door, and Clovis intently perked his left ear to better hear it. "He's right through that door, sir," came the muffled voice of the bath attendant.

"Much obliged," was the response, and Zen slowly opened the door and stepped inside. "Clovis, are you in..." and he froze once he identified the towel-wearing half-fox pleasantly submerged in the bathwater.

Clovis lifted the side of the washcloth to verify the wolf's identity. "Ah, Zen. Nice of you to come by!" he warmly welcomed his contact, as if they were old friends.

Zen shut his eyes and cringed. "Yes, this was exactly what I wanted to see tonight. Thank you very much," he sarcastically spouted off, ungrateful that he now had a few brain cells completely devoted to seeing Clovis in only a towel.

"Oh come now, Zen. This can't be the first time you've been to a public bathhouse, right?"

Zen's silence was his only response, and Clovis chuckled a bit. "Didn't think so. Why don't you join me, then? The water is quite nice."

"I didn't come here for a bath, Clovis," Zen sternly replied, crossing his arms and crossly glaring down at his grinning employer. "You lied to me."

"For a good reason," Clovis appended, setting the washcloth back over his eye. "And you followed the directions I gave you anyways, so no harm done, right?"

"You promised me my intel, and I'm here to get it. So where is it?"

"Calm, my friend. And please, do come in. Enjoy yourself."

Zen looked down at the water puzzlingly and then back at Clovis. "I'm just here for the information, Clovis. I don't need a bath, and even if I did, it wouldn't be with you."

"It'll calm you right down. I'm confident."

"The intel, Clovis! Now!"

"And you sound tense too, come to think of it. You'd benefit quite a bit."

Zen slipped his face into his hand. "Good Gods, it's the mint debacle all over again."

Clovis snickered back, and Zen's eyes narrowed in his direction. "I can't convince you to come in?"

"Forget it, foxy. I'm here for my info, not to get into a pool with you."

"You're sure?"

"Positive," Zen affirmed, pointing a finger at the smirking half-fox. "And no amount of your antics is going to get me in there!"

* * *

 

"What am I doing in here?" Zen let out a disheartened sigh at the bath's other occupant, who probably hadn't moved at all between Zen putting his foot down on not entering the pool and his entering the pool.

Though Clovis seemed to have gotten much more serious during that time. "It's all about the appearance," he explained in an omniscient tone. He was still reclined onto the deck, on the side adjacent to Zen, the damp cloth still covering only his eyes. "The exchange at MacMillan's would have been very obvious. Nearly analogous to our friend Riley, and we all know what happened to him."

"I fail to see how this is any better," Zen blandly replied, resting his head on his hand, still skeptically eying his companion.

"To any passersby, we're just two Keidran sharing a bathhouse, casually chatting. Nothing out of the ordinary to observe. The illusion is convincing, which means we have the freedom to do what we will with it."

"Such as getting me my damn intel, right?" Zen coaxed pressingly, gesturing with his hand to get Clovis to speak like a normal person for once.

"Ah, ah, ah," Clovis raised a hand, and deeply inhaled. "Keep the scene strong," he advised as he slowly exhaled. "This is not the time for stress."

Zen splashed some water onto his face instead, and waited for Clovis' little breathing ritual to complete. "Fine, let's try again," he exasperatedly, sarcastically, half-heartedly grumbled. "Clovis, my dear, unconditional friend. Would you kindly divulge the secrets you have promised me unto my ears, such that I might possibly save my brother's life?"

"I think that's a tad over the top, even for you..."

"Clovis!" Zen barked.

"I have reason to believe The Fang might be after your sister."

The bathhouse went tensely quiet for a little bit until Zen spoke up again. "When you say The Fang, you mean..."

"The same group who's hunting my assets," Clovis finished. "A delicious little coincidence, isn't it?"

" _Little_  coincidence?" Zen skeptically asked.

Clovis was silent for a second before responding to the disbelieving wolf. "Alright, fine. It's a relatively large one, I'll admit. But all of the data points to it, and I don't like to ignore leads."

"There has to be a lead first for you to ignore it."

"Maybe I should explain my thoughts," Clovis offered, sitting up and removing the washcloth, permitting him to talk to the wolf eye-to-eye. "Why in the world would a lowly mercenary group be interested not only in overthrowing one of the most powerful spy rings in the world..."

"Keep patting yourself on the back there, foxy."

Clovis paid no mind to that remark and continued as if it was never made. "...while also trying to take down an ambassador to one of the most reclusive nations in the world?" Clovis stopped after he finished his statement, looking at Zen expectantly. "I wasn't asking that rhetorically, by the way. I'd love to hear your input," he added.

"Except I don't know that much about PMCs so I can't really give you an answer."

"That's the key word there, isn't it?"

"What is?" Zen pressed, leaning forward.

"PMC. Private military contractor," Clovis said, his words gradually increasing in speed as he became more invested in the topic. "That's what The Fang is officially, if their government documents are worth their salt. Yes, they're a merc group, but they're more than that. They're soldiers, blacksmiths, mages, bounty hunters, merchants, the list goes on."

"If they're so big, how are we only now hearing about them?" Zen asked quizzically.

"Yes, it does seem incongruous at first. Think on it. The Fang isn't just some standard, run of the mill collection of thugs. They're a nerve center of the entire network. And it's all happening, right here," Clovis tapped the water a little bit for emphasis, rippling the water in Zen's direction. "In this city."

"Damn," Zen interjected after a small pause. "They must keep pretty quiet then, if nobody's heard of them."

Clovis perked an ear again. "Sorry, Zenny. Did you say something?"

"Right before that fight ended, one of the bandits told Nat exactly how covert his employers were. That they were anonymous, highly secretive, nobody knew who they were..."

Zen stopped himself as he drew a conclusion, and Clovis smiled, almost proudly, as he read his companion's expression. "Unless..." Zen started.

"Unless what, my friend?"

"He wasn't talking about  _his_  employers."

"How do you mean?"

"That op you assigned me and Blitz to at the bar. Someone from Black Water gave Riley the note, but that note wasn't from Black Water themselves. They were just a courier. The orders actually came from The Fang. So..." Zen paused again to make sure his thoughts were correctly aligned. "So what if they did something similar when they sent the bandits after Natani and Keith?"

"They didn't send the hunters..."

"They got someone else to do it for them."

"The world sees the bandits killing your friend and your sister."

"While The Fang was holding the cards all along."

Clovis gleefully rubbed his hands together. "Oh, this is such a fun puzzle," he cheerfully noted. "And now you see why I was so happy to see you."

Zen could do little more than stare at his overly enthralled peer. "I think you're enjoying this a little too much," he slowly responded.

"The Keidran brain is a muscle, Zen. It must be worked regularly and stimulated in order for it to fully function," Clovis pointed out, pushing his hands together, resting his chin on the thumbs and his forehead on the index fingers. "Shall we keep going?" he enthusiastically requested, much like a kid at a carnival.

Zen shrugged and restated what they had found. "Okay, so they're a special group of swords and spells for hire that'd rather not get their hands dirty."

Clovis nodded. "Now, we just need to connect them to me and your sister."

Another pause ensued, only this one felt very out of place. Zen expected Clovis to continue talking, and Clovis expected Zen to take over for him. The wolf eventually did speak up after a short while. "...and, what did you find out?"

"Nothing, actually. I didn't think this all the way through yet," Clovis shamelessly confessed.

Zen's stare narrowed, once again baffled by Clovis' wildly swerving train of thought. "You haven't thought it through yet, huh?" he inquired, monotonously.

"I wanted to save some of it for you," Clovis clarified. "Honestly, where's the fun in me deducing everything and then just having you say it back?"

"Ugh, Gods," Zen muttered under his breath. This was typical Clovis behavior too. On any other day, this would be considered likably quirky, typically par for the course when dealing with Clovis. He may have left a bad taste in the wolf's mouth once his previous arrangement with him had ended, but at least Clovis was not a dull person to talk to. He had his share of flaws, just like anyone else, but he seemed to embrace them more than anything. And if his view of "considerate" was letting someone else do the work he had promised them in the first place, as annoying as it was, then Zen could understand it somewhat. Clovis was obviously a brilliant individual, no question about it. Maybe what Zen saw as just payment was something more substantial to Clovis.

So despite being quite peeved at the near ignorance of the half-fox's excuse, Zen quickly put it behind him and decided to play along. "What else did you find, then?"

"Not much of anything else, sadly," Clovis answered, disappointed with himself. "Their logo doesn't appear anywhere else in what I found. Likely any transmittals get burnt after their contents are read."

"Good thing we caught Riley when we did, huh?"

"Do tell," Clovis scoffed. "But then I thought, they need their money from  _some_ where, so maybe their agents are a bit more active than they sound."

"Alright, what do they do?"

"Exactly what you think they do. Sell things. Soldiers, munitions, equipment, you get the..." Clovis' voice trailed off as his expression went from intrigued and personable to belittled and depressed. He sighed deeply and limply slammed his head against the pool deck, prompting a small jump of surprise out of his compatriot.

"Clovis, you bloody moron. How did you not see this earlier?" he quietly scolded himself, while oddly smiling that crooked grin that may as well have been trademarked considering how frequently Zen saw him with it.

"...what just happened?" Zen asked, his tone between the two extremes of confused and concerned. "Should I call for the attendant?"

"Zen!" Clovis exclaimed as he clapped his hands together and sat himself back up. "I know what we're going to do tomorrow!"

* * *

 

Six Basitins, two Forest Wolf Keidran and a squirrel were all present in the main hearing chamber as High King Adelaide called the proceedings to order. Keith stood behind the witness stand, sternly, professionally looking up at the High King and her four advisors, taking the upper benches' seats. This left Natani and Sythe sitting in the wings, patiently waiting for their turn to speak. Mrs. Nibbly took up her usual position on Sythe's shoulder, attentively standing on her hind legs.

Keith had been in exactly this position in this room a number of times before, and under less than ideal circumstances more often than not. His earlier visits to the main chamber were mostly incarcerations, first for his father's death and then for exploding a Templar sponsored construction project. Of course, he was on the defensive for both of those incidents, answering questions to keep himself out of trouble. This time, however, he had more control. More influence. And that was reinvigorating.

Although he couldn't help the feeling that he would still be defending a side heavily favored to lose yet again. A brief look over the King's cabinet members didn't help matters either. None of them, not even Adelaide, seemed content with today's topic. Keith didn't like that. Compounded with the fact that Keith barely knew anybody sitting at the panel, apart from the King herself and Alabaster, he couldn't begin to determine exactly how badly the Basidian Isles wanted a fight.

Keith shut his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. He just had to remember who he was talking to. Basitins. True, they loved their military probably more than anyone else. But the Basitin tradition when it came to Keidran affairs was to just stay out of it. Basitins had the stiffest neutrality doctrine known to date, and they almost never acted out of accordance with it. Keith didn't even get hurt during his exchange with the bandits, so it was almost like nothing ever happened. Right? Adelaide would have to understand Keith's position and that he wouldn't want it to escalate unless it had to. Just like any of her military advisors, she kept close ties with Keith and tried to keep up to date with his latest doings. So yes, she did know what this hearing was about and her initial bias on the matter. However, in this room, objectivity prevailed without exception. She held her head ambassador in high esteem, and had the utmost confidence that Keith did indeed know what he was doing. But, as much as she trusted in Keith, if the majority wanted war, then she wouldn't have a choice.

But it didn't change the fact that the Wolves still launched an attack on one of their peace officers, and that was probably the biggest argument the board could pose in favor of going to war. Do not fire unless fired upon was the Basitin mantra for these sorts of issues, and the Wolves had just pulled the trigger. Even if it was unsuccessful.

Sythe was here, though. Sythe could definitely fix things. He had direct relations to the Wolf King, his main men and his generals. He knew that they would never sponsor or condone a contract like this on a neutral faction, even if they were en route to hostile territory. If he could convince the board that this was true, then Keith had a shot at keeping his nation out of the conflict.

The Basitin's pondering session jolted to a halt as Alabaster slammed a gavel into the pedestal on his desk and started to formally commence the festivities. He spoke proudly, determinedly.

"General Keiser," Alabaster announced, standing to Adelaide's far left. "You stand before this council with news of your latest encounter with the Keidran Forest Wolf tribe. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir. That is correct," Keith affirmed. He too knew that emotion would not do him any good here. Logic and reasoning reigned. As long as both of those were sound, he could win. He took another deep breath.

"Very well," Alabaster continued, business as usual. He extinguished his pipe with a small vial of water and set it aside on his desk. "You shall now present your testimony to this panel, as well as your two companions off to the wings. After a closing statement, we shall deliberate and give you a final decision and call to action. Do you understand this format?"

"Yes, sir. I do."

"You understand that..." Alabaster had to stop himself mid-sentence as a long yawn of boredom stretched across the auditorium from the wings. Natani didn't even notice what she was doing until Keith turned to his right and narrowly glared at her. Her hand jumped up to her mouth in embarrassment, trying not to make her loss of manners any worse.

"Sorry," she waved at the King and the rest of the panel. "Carry on, my liege. Won't happen again."

"Quite alright, Mr. Natani," Adelaide called back. "These things do have a tendency to droll on." Keith smiled a bit. It was nice to hear that, as seriously as King Adelaide took these sorts of issues, she still tried to remain somewhat familiar with those involved. Her personality foiled Alabaster's quite nicely, and it was probably good that she would be the one asking most of the questions this time around with that in mind.

Alabaster cleared his throat and continued where he left off. "You understand that, once this council has made a decision regarding the subject matter, the decision is final and all subsequent actions taken by you and your affiliates must adhere to that decision."

"Yes, sir, even if my wolf friend thinks otherwise."

"Hey!"

"Ma'am, we have recited the pledges and abide by them," Alabaster respectfully informed the king.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I'd like to call this hearing to order," King Adelaide powerfully declared, as the remaining four members of the committee nodded in unison. "General, let's hear your tale."

* * *

 

"Well, this is going to be a while," Natani grumbled as Keith began to relate his story in excruciating detail. The wolf knew well that anything could be relevant to the Basitins: where the attack happened, what weapons the bandits used, how they dressed, whether they squeezed their toothpaste from the end or the middle. But include all of those details into a story that really shouldn't need more than ten minutes to tell, and Natani was in for a very long and appallingly boring evening.

"Something tells me you haven't been to a hearing like this before," Sythe inferred. He opened up the leather bag attached to his belt and pulled out a thin, lightly salted cracker. "Basitin proceedings tend to be a lot like this at the start. It'll pick up," he assured as he handed the cracker to Mrs. Nibbly.

"You've been to this kind of thing before?" Natani inquired, observing Mrs. Nibbly munch on the cracker out of her peripherals.

"Not necessarily," Sythe answered. "I've just been reading up on them. In fact, this is the first time I've ever been to the Isles."

"What do you know about the Basitins Keith is talking to?" Natani motioned to the five committee members hovering over Keith. Her opinion that Sythe was still off his rocker hadn't changed, but maybe some small talk would help mitigate that feeling.

"I recognize King Adelaide and the intelligence general on the far right there," Sythe replied, as the squirrel finished her snack and rubbed her head under Sythe's muzzle. "But...I can't say I'm all that familiar with other three." He leaned forward and rested his head on the back of his hands studiously, as Mrs. Nibbly scampered up his neck and laid down on his head.

"This should be interesting," he noted, looking back up at the squirrelly companion.

"I hate interesting," Natani retorted with disgust.

"What do you like then, Natani?"

"Things going to plan."

"Things never go to plan."

"It's nice when they do."

"Optimism never hurt anyone."

Natani glared over at Sythe. "Are you always this negative thinking or is it just today?"

"My fiancée in an arranged marriage runs out on me, two assassins I hired end up coming after me, and now, here I am, talking about diplomacy, of all things, with one of them." Sythe looked back over at the second wolf. "I think that counts as not going to plan."

Natani reclined in her seat, casually looking out over the main floor of the chamber. "Hope Zen and I weren't too much trouble."

"Your brother's a fun guy when you get to know him," Sythe commented as he continued to study the hearing's developments. "Very easy to talk to." He paused to let Natani speak in turn, but no response ever came. He turned his head back to her.

"Natani?"

Natani discreetly pointed in the direction of a grey-colored Basitin sitting second from her left. "What is that guy up to, Sythe?" she quietly asked.

Sythe focused on the board member in question, resting his head in his hand. Mrs. Nibbly stood back up on all fours and leaned forward a bit as well. The opaque wooden banister in front of the desk obstructed the wolf's vision, but the Basitin was definitely working on something with his hands. Judging from the motions, it didn't seem to be note taking or organizing. So what else would he be doing during a parliament session?

The Basitin visually answered that question as he placed a small red crystal into a golden frame holder, and set it on top of the banister. Both wolves turned to each other, unsure of what to make the crystal except that it probably shouldn't be there. Natani was, however, familiar with the crystal's crimson hue and what sort of magic it tended to correspond to. She didn't like it.

"Sythe? What is that Basitin doing with...?" she started to ask.

"Next, we shall hear testimony from General Keiser's traveling companion, Natani of the Forest Wolves," Alabaster stated.

"Damn," Natani sighed as she stood up. "We'll figure this out later."

"No need," Sythe said as Natani moved into the aisle and proceeded down the stairs. "I'm already on it."

Mrs. Nibbly dropped her head down in front of Sythe's face, and stared at him expectantly. Sythe smiled back at the squirrel. "Why don't you go see what that Basitin's up to, Nibs?" he requested kindly. The squirrel nodded and squeaked back, then scampered down Sythe's back, into the sea of chairs, and towards the Basitin's desk.

Keith exchanged spots with Natani on the floor, and was about to head up to the wings to join Sythe. Natani resisted his passage, instead grappling his shoulder and leaning over to his ear.

"The Basitin to the King's right might be broadcasting this session," she softly notified. "Not sure why yet."

"Be careful, Nat," he whispered back. He gave Natani a motivational pat on the back then brushed past the wolf to where Sythe was seated. He climbed the stairs and collapsed into the chair closest to the aisle, knowing he would have to get back up as soon as Natani's segment was over. After a brief, inaudible sigh, he glanced over at Sythe, who shot a short-lived, toothy smile back at him in acknowledgement.

"Where did Nibs go?" Keith asked once he noticed Sythe's woodland friend was missing.

"Scouting," Sythe succinctly responded. "Natani told you about our spy friend, right over there?" He motioned with his head to the board member in question, trying to avoid pointing or doing anything auspicious.

"Nobody said he was a spy, Sythe," Keith defended. "Not yet at least. How would he even be recording this?"

Sythe fixed his eyes to the ground, like he wasn't engaged in the conversation. "You see that red crystal mounted on his desk? Looks like a paperweight?" Keith turned his head towards the witness stand and Natani, but let his eyes wander towards the suspicious committee member, blandly, expressionlessly listening to the wolf's story. Keith glanced downward a bit more, towards the visible part of his desk, and noticed the crystal hovering in the golden filigree resting on the edge.

"No, no, something's wrong," Keith murmured over to the wolf. "Basitins biologically reject magic. Why would he be carrying something like that around with him?"

"Maybe it's just a onetime thing," Sythe conjectured. "I mean, you travel with Natani a lot, and he casts spells like it's going out of style."

"Except those are just spells, Sythe," Keith explained. "The radiation those give off is nothing compared to large concentrations of mana. Especially in this close a proximity. So how in the world is he still physically functioning?"

Sythe examined the King's advisor again. "He doesn't look too edgy. Must not have had it for too long."

"Then he either just received it or he's been hiding it for exactly this reason," Keith concluded. "Still, though..."

Sythe's ears twitched briefly as the pattering of small claws on the room's polished hardwood floor approached him. Keith lifted his feet high enough for Mrs. Nibbly to dash down the row of seats and climb back up to Sythe's shoulders via his pants leg. Sythe perked his right ear up as Mrs. Nibbly stood up on her back legs, held the Keidran's ear between her front two paws, and began to quietly squeak into it at varying pitches and durations.

Keith's expression went nothing short of stupefied as Sythe listened intently to the squirrel's "words." "Is she actually saying something to you?"

"I taught her code about a month ago. Shut up for a minute," Sythe gruffly responded, trying not to miss anymore of the message than necessary.

Keith had no idea how in the world a squirrel could be intelligent enough to not only obey commands given to it, but then relay information to its master. It sounded completely implausible to the Basitin, and for a very valid reason. Then again, he had heard of stranger things before this. Eavesdropping birds, seeing eye cats, a myriad of common animals with a plethora of supernatural abilities. Maybe Sythe had her enchanted with an intelligence spell or something before they formally met. Keith didn't know the answer, nor was he quite sure if he wanted to hear it. So, as incredulous as the circumstances were, Keith didn't have quite as many reservations about the squirrel as someone like Natani would. It was very out of the ordinary, borderline insane, but not completely implausible. And if this just happened to be the way Sythe acquired his information and Keith acted on it, what was the worst case scenario? The possible spy is called out and asked to do something about his crystal? That was really about it.

Mrs. Nibbly finished squeaking after about a minute, then batted Sythe's ear twice to signify the end of her transmission. "Thank you kindly, Nibs," he told his companion as he fished out another cracker for her to munch on. She took it up to Sythe's head to do just that.

"I think our fears are well placed, Keith," he informed the Basitin as he reclined back in his seat.

"How do you mean?"

"Yes, that Basitin is using that crystal to record the hearing. And yes, he's probably going to send it off to someone once we're done here," Sythe reported, still trying to look indifferent as he told Keith his news.

"Hmm," Keith put a hand to his mouth in thought. This meeting was no longer private, and the crystal could be going anywhere once it ended. "Is he affiliated with anyone, does she know?"

Sythe looked up to his companion for that question. Mrs. Nibbly finished her current bite of cracker, shook her head no, and then went for another.

"But there were some unusual papers on the guy's desk, from what she saw," Sythe added.

Keith straightened his posture and leaned forward in his chair. "Define 'unusual,' Sythe," he demanded.

"Nibs took a look at the other desks for comparison, and whatever that guy had on his," Sythe nodded in the spy's direction again. "Doesn't match up."

"What was off about it?"

"Bunch of stuff. No letter of introduction, no meeting agenda. Almost everything had this...weird stamp on it. Skull, two swords crossed behind it," Sythe described. "Ring any bells?"

"No, but I have a friend who might be looking into it. I'll get the word out."

"Next, the expert opinion of one Sythe of the Forest Wolves, representative of the Wolf King," Alabaster summoned as Natani retreated back to Keith. Sythe stood up from his seat and adjusted his shirt as he talked to Mrs. Nibbly.

"Nibs, I think you might be better off staying here for now," he advised. "I probably won't be long."

Mrs. Nibbly turned her head to the side, like she was asking something back to the wolf.

"Just going to say a few quick things to them and I'll be right back," Sythe continued.

Keith called over to the squirrel. "You can stay with me until then if you like, Nibbly," he offered. A joyful squeak was the response, and after brushing her head under Sythe's muzzle again she hopped off back onto the hardwood floor, dashed over to Keith and jumped onto his arm in one fluid, catlike motion.

"Keep an eye on her, and I'll meet you down there in a few minutes," Sythe smiled at the rodent as he shuffled past Keith towards the stairs. He brushed his hand through his hair a few times, dislodging any cracker crumbs that Mrs. Nibbly may have left over.

"Thanks again, Sythe," Keith responded as Natani finished her ascension and sat down behind Keith in the row above him. She exhaled heavily, making a noise most reminiscent of a horse, as Keith turned in his seat to better see the wolf. Mrs. Nibbly finished climbing up the Basitin's arm and took a seat on his shoulder nearest Natani.

"Their translator could use a little work," Natani criticized as she looked back up at her friend. Her gaze instantly went sour once she identified the creature occupying his shoulder, however.

"Oh, Gods, not you too."

"Calm down, I'm just looking after her while Sythe's talking," Keith assuaged. Mrs. Nibbly friendlily squeaked at the wolf, prompting a disgusted, half-hearted "woof" in return.

"Besides, she actually did some work for us while you were with the council."

Natani untrustingly leered at the squirrel again. "That furball did something for us?"

"That member you mentioned earlier is hiding something, from what Nibs told us."

"The..." Natani paused to breathe in and make sure she heard correctly. "The squirrel told you this?"

"Sythe sent her running a while ago and she just came back."

Natani was speechless, not out of disbelief but simply just a lack of words to say. Her mouth opened twice, but both times no sound was made.

Keith waited a bit longer to see if her muteness would solve itself, and then spoke up again. "Hey, this isn't too much weirder than your link with your brother. If I can accept it, you probably can too."

The wolf was silent for just a moment longer, then shut her eyes, cleared her mind and mentally reset. "Alright, I'll humor you," she convinced herself. "So what exactly did..." Mrs. Nibbly turned her head to the side with big eyes, endearingly staring at Natani.

She put a hand in front of her face to block out the squirrel's presence. "What did..." Natani rolled her eyes. "...Mrs. Nibbly tell you?" A squeal of delight came from behind her hand as the wolf finally called the rodent by name.

Keith gave Mrs. Nibbly a quick scratch down the back as he answered. "The crystal is a recording device, and whoever he works for probably wants it back."

"I thought Basitins couldn't be around magic without...you know, losing it."

"They can't, so maybe the enchantment is not quite as potent as it sounds," Keith hypothesized.

"Doubt it," Natani said, still suspiciously surveying the squirrel. "Hearing spells are complex enough. Getting visuals to go with it is even worse."

Keith hummed and rested his head in his hands again, pensively looking over the council. "Curious," he murmured under his breath as Mrs. Nibbly stood back up on his shoulder.

"Most curious," Natani agreed. "For a Basitin, his resistance to mana poisoning is ridiculous."

Keith's ears jumped back up as he got an idea. Mrs. Nibbly looked up at him, almost excitedly. "Who said he was, Nat?"

"What are you on about?" Natani skeptically asked back, leaning towards the general.

"Can you do me a favor and see if there's any magic in this room right now?" Keith requested. "I just want to see what comes up."

"No you don't," Natani remarked as she searched her pants for a mana crystal. "You're looking for something."

"Just cast the detection for me, okay? If I'm right about this, you'll know it."

Natani shrugged as she pulled out the crystal and pressed it against her palms. "If you say so," she indifferently obliged as she shut her eyes and began to focus on the spell. Between the gaps in her fingers, trace amounts of white light leaked through as she began to channel the mana out of the crystal. She briefly opened her right eye to see if the ritual was drawing attention, then thankfully shut it again when she noticed it wasn't.

A vibrating sensation caused her hands to tremble slightly, the sign that the mana was ready. "Depredno magia," she whispered into her hands as she slowly turned her palms outwards, dispersing the spell throughout the room. A cluster of miniscule, light blue particles scattered every which way in the air, and the wolf, eyes still closed, patiently waited for them to show her what she wanted. A few seconds passed, and then Natani's field of view, initially pitch black, lit up with a variety of shapes in various colors, each one corresponding to a different sort of magic.

"What do you see, Nat?" Keith asked, expectantly.

"Give me a second, this spell does not work that quick," Natani barked as she analyzed what the spell found. First, a red rhombus appeared where the spy was sitting. "The crystal is definitely enchanted, no question about that."

"Figured."

Next, a white mass glowed next to where the outside of Natani's leg would be. "I also detected the mana crystals in my pocket. Surprise, surprise," the wolf mumbled, but her face contorted in realization as she noticed a third source, on the far end of the room. The color was a deep, mysterious purple, and the shape... "Holy crap," she said, breathlessly.

"What is it, Nat?"

"There's also an illusion in the chamber somewhere," she informed Keith. Her eyes snapped open and shimmered blue momentarily before fading back to their original hues. She leaned forward in her seat and subtly motioned towards the Basitin next to Adelaide. "And I think it's coming from him," she whispered into the ambassador's oversized ear.

* * *

 

Chapter 13

"What do we do, Keith?"

"Nothing, for now," the Basitin straight-facedly replied. "We act like we didn't see a thing."

"He's an imposter. We know he is!" Natani quietly yelled back. "How are you so complacent with this?"

"I'm not complacent with it, Nat. But I can't rip his mask off here. Not now."

"Give me one reason we shouldn't!" she snapped, pulling another mana crystal out of her pocket. "I can dispel illusions right here, right now, with two quick words!"

Keith nabbed her hand, almost like a reflex, and tugged her back down to her chair. "Listen to me," the Basitin commanded. "This hearing isn't really going the way I want it to. Unless Sythe and I pull a rabbit out of our hats, we're probably going to war."

"Didn't look that way when I was with them," Natani argued.

"Even then, the moment I blow his cover, the council's going to panic. If I want any chance of keeping the Basitins out of this, the last thing they need to know is that there's a spy on the loose."

"Then at least let me disrupt that recorder," Natani pressed, eager to do something,  _any_ thing to interrupt the false Basitin's plans. "I can keep it silent."

"I think that'd only tip him off that we're onto him," Keith warned. "We're lucky enough nobody caught you casting that detection spell."

"Brilliant," Natani grunted, replacing the crystal into her side pocket. "So now we get to dance around that thing trying not to say anything sensitive."

"If it keeps the council calm and whoever he works for in the dark, then it's our only play right now."

Natani went silent again, this time with frustration. The logic didn't add up in her mind. Every piece of evidence they collected pointed towards the deceiving Basitin being a double agent, and yet Keith had no reservations with him continuing what he was doing. Natani understood the need for not alerting him, to be sure. She wouldn't be as successful an assassin as she was if she didn't. But what could one quick disruption spell do? Just one small ping of interference off of the crystal. One small statement: "I know what you're up to." So what if she was the only mage in the hall right now? For all that "Basitin" knew about her, she was a freelancer, only accompanying Keith because he paid for her to. She could very well be investigating by herself, and Keith was none the wiser. Just one small interruption, something to harass communications.

She jammed her hands into her pockets as soon as he heard her own thoughts. She wasn't by herself. She didn't have the final decision in this. And she sure as hell didn't want to make Keith's job any harder than it had to be. Keith asked her to stay her hand, and Natani would do exactly that. _This is a mission_ , she told herself.  _Just stick with the plan_. Yes, stay to the plan. The one thing Natani could never do well was improvise. That was what she had Zen around for. The fewer times she had to go off-script, the less she, and by extension Keith, would have to do that.

"General Keiser!" Alabaster boomed. "You may now approach the bench for your final statement."

"Thank you, General," Keith acknowledged as he rose from his seat in the wings. Mrs. Nibbly seemed to have taken the hint that Keith would be moving soon, and jumped over to the back of the chair next to Natani. Another glare of distrust from the wolf, another friendly gesture from the squirrel.

"Might I also request Sythe joins me for my closing thoughts?" Keith requested as he walked down the steps towards the stand.

"The closing statement for this hearing was to be made by you and you alone," Alabaster strictly reminded. "You agreed to this at the beginning."

"I assure you, what we both have to say is relevant to the case."

Alabaster pondered the idea for a second. "Exactly how relevant do you mean?" the intelligence general asked for elaboration.

"Relevant enough to potentially alter your decision," Keith formally stated. "Please. You'll see where I'm going with this in a moment."

Alabaster turned to the King. "Your Highness? I don't have a problem with it if you don't."

"I can't say that I do," Adelaide replied, briefly but supportively glancing at Keith.

"That's that, then," Alabaster commented. "General, you and your Keidran friend have the floor."

"Objection...!" the false Basitin interjected, jumping up from his seat and boldly pointing a finger in Keith's direction.

"Overruled," Adelaide spoke over him. "As admirable as your dedication is to these sorts of procedures, if this can influence the council's majority opinion, then I'd like to hear it."

The false Basitin continued to leer at Keith through narrow grey eyes as he sat back down, draping an arm over the back.

Adelaide looked at the audacious advisor sternly in turn, but then directed her attention back to Keith. "Sorry about that, General. You may begin whenever you're ready."

Keith took his place next to Sythe, who sidestepped towards him and leaned over a bit. "My guess is the vote's going to be three-two against us. We just need to swing one," Sythe informed him.

Keith nodded back in response and slowly started pacing in front of the council, hands behind his back. "Ladies and gentlemen of the council," he began with a formal address. "This is a tough spot for all of us. You have heard me, you heard my colleagues, and yet I get the feeling that this wasn't quite enough. Most of you feel like we need to get involved, I feel?"

The deep grey-colored council member on the far left, obviously the oldest of the five, answered first. "We sympathize with your plight, General. But this affront on you and our interests cannot, and should not, go unanswered."

"I understand, Councilor, and agree wholeheartedly," Keith returned. "But a full-scale war is not the right answer here, or at least not right now."

"The Forest Wolves already have their hands full with the Templars as well," Sythe added, leaning on the end of the witness stand with both hands. "We have no intentions of fighting a war on two fronts, even if we did know about those bandits."

"Whether your government knew about them or not is irrelevant, Mr. Sythe," the false Basitin coldly interrupted. "Your people still attacked our ambassador, out of no fault of his own. Why should we care to extend our diplomacy towards you?"

"You're burning a forest to uproot a weed," Sythe argued back. "My people don't have quarrel with yours, nor am I looking to start one."

"Then it seems some of your 'people' didn't quite get the message," was the response, accompanied by sound of papers being dropped onto a desk for alignment.

"For a race that has been relatively neutral in world events lately, you're coming off as very aggressive."

"We also believe in equality, Mr. Sythe," the Basitin snarled back. "Aggression towards one of us is aggression towards all of us."

"You can't be serious," Sythe barked. Keith glanced over and noticed the wolf baring his teeth as well. "Not to mention nobody in my tribe's government has heard of this happening until they sent me."

"Convenient," the Basitin indifferently returned. "And how do we know that isn't just a cover up, again?"

"I'm done talking to you," Sythe growled, trying not to bare his teeth in public. Keith could tell that the imposter had gotten to the wolf, and walked over to him as Sythe turned to face him.

"The hell is up with that guy?" he quietly but angrily demanded.

"I'll tell you later," Keith said, gently patting Sythe's shoulder. "Let me deal with him from now on."

"Cheers." Sythe rolled his eyes and about faced back to the council.

Keith strode back in front of the witness stand and surveyed the council once again. "Council, does he speak for all of you or just himself?"

"His motivations may be questionable," the elder Basitin answered again. "Yet the opinion remains valid."

"He's correct in the sense that we don't have much reason to trust the Forest Wolves now," added the member between Alabaster and King Adelaide, a sturdy, well-built exhibit of Basitin strength. "Ceasing relations with them is not completely unreasonable."

"Unreasonable isn't the question, sir," Keith quickly snapped back. "The question is whether it's logical."

The grey-furred Basitin removed his spectacles and pulled a silk cloth out from his pocket to clean them. "How do you mean, logical, General Keiser?"

"We have no motivation to engage our 'enemy' at the moment apart from the fact that they unsuccessfully tried to assault me," Keith clarified. "And as Sythe already told you, the only ones who really knew this happened are me, him, my traveling partner, you five and the wolves that were behind it."

"He raises a good point," Alabaster stated after a quick puff from his pipe. "Even for the other members of the board who support military action. You have to admit. That's not a strong basis for this kind of offensive."

"Exactly!" Keith affirmed. "We can't stage an attack because we need more evidence. If the Forest Wolves really want to fight us, then we need to know for certain that they want to."

"As if this isn't evident enough," the imposter muttered, blowing air at his hairline to adjust it.

"Do you have an idea?" King Adelaide asked her ambassador.

"Another question, first, though," Keith requested. "Your Highness, I know the time for the vote hasn't come yet, but may I at least see how the board members are thinking?"

Adelaide looked at the four members of her cabinet and then cleared her throat. "In the case of the Forest Wolves' attack against Ambassador-General Keith Keiser, all in favor of taking immediate military action?"

Slowly, but decisively, the older Basitin, the false Basitin, and the well-muscled Basitin all raised their hands in turn.

Adelaide nodded at the count and motioned for the hands to come down. "All opposed?" she asked as she raised her own hand. Alabaster put his pipe back down to do the same.

In the wings, Mrs. Nibbly squeaked and put her paw up as well, prompting another curious stare from Natani.

Keith sighed when he saw that the majority didn't change. "I see, then," he observed, but not with defeat as Sythe thought he would have. Instead, he intensely looked back up to the board, forcefully, determinedly. "In that case, might I propose a third option?"

Four of the Basitins in the council went shocked for a moment, save for Adelaide, who was surpressedly smiling. "What might this third option be, General?" she asked with interest.

"It's apparent that this council wants to fight, and if that's your decision, I won't get in the way," Keith spoke, hands behind his back, motionless. "But if Sythe is right and somebody else is trying to incite us, then I have a right to look into it."

"What did you have in mind, sir?" the muscular Basitin inquired.

"Allow me three weeks," Keith confidently proposed. "Three weeks to either salvage our relationship with the Forest Wolves or find out who's trying to get us involved in this war. If I can't do either, I'll shut up, step down and let the military take over. But if I can keep our country out of this, then I'm going to."

"How can you be sure you'll find anything?" the impostor doubtfully inquired. "We have no information whatsoever on who they are or what they want. You said it yourself."

"I have two reliable contacts who just happen to be Forest Wolves, right here in this room," Keith countered, opening his stance towards Natani and Sythe. "One's a government official and the other's a world class assassin. Call me cocky if you will, but I like my chances of finding a lead." Keith took care not to mention Zen in front of the spy. The last thing he wanted was for Zen to start investigating his organization with a prematurely blown cover. The consequences could have been catastrophic. He was lucky he didn't say his name by accident.

Keith turned back to the council and crossed his arms. "It's a gamble, but I think it's acceptable considering how closely down the middle this decision is. So, what do you think?"

All five Basitin took a few moments to discuss the idea with their peers, and then refocused back on Keith.

"I won't object to this plan," the eldest approved. "Though I think every action must have a reaction, maybe there is still a way to peacefully resolve this issue."

"I guess I'm alright with it too," the spy smirked smugly. "I can probably wait for a while."

"Same here," the muscular Basitin nodded. "I don't like fighting wars unless I have a good reason."

"Indeed," Alabaster blew a smoke cloud into the air. "I'm for any plan that leaves us alone, temporary as it is."

Which only left Adelaide, who was busy unscrewing an ink pen. "Very well then," she noted, pressing it against a lengthy strip of parchment. "If we don't have any major objections..."

* * *

 

"So when exactly is this supposed to end?" Evalyn begrudgingly asked over breakfast the next day. She didn't bother with the bandages like Mike had during his...episode, but she was self-conscious enough to remember to put a shirt on when she woke herself up. The worn grey short-sleeve from the Na'Rella was the only clean one at her disposal at the time, to her reluctance.

Mike flipped an omelet over the stove and turned his head over his shoulder. "More than a night, from the looks of things?" he shrugged, at the loss of a more knowledgeable answer.

"Maybe shoot for something a bit more accurate."

"Evals, this would be easier to fix if I knew what type of magic it was," the fox answered, dashing a few more spices into the eggs. "It could be an illusion, in which case it's just a quick dispel. It could be alteration, in which case I just will your Y chromosome back to existence."

"So what's the problem?" Evalyn demanded, at a louder volume. "Let's figure it out and do it!"

Mike motioned for the dog to calm down. "Easy, boy. Or, girl, maybe. Whichever one applies."

Evalyn growled a bit but was still listening as Mike continued cooking. "I went through the rest of Natani's supplies last night. You still need to patch that door up, by the way."

"I'm a tad indisposed right now, Mike," Evalyn snapped.

"Not really," Mike countered, flipping the omelet again. "Seriously, apart from the obvious, you only lost, what, two inches of height? And it's just a door."

"What was in Natani's room, Mike?" Evalyn barked.

"My point was, if we want to solve this with as little drama as possible, I need to minimize our chances of spell rebounding, and to do that I need to know what type of dispel to use, and to do  _that_  I need to know what type of magic this is."

"And to do that...?" the dog tried to speed the conversation along.

"I need to study exactly what happened to you, and sadly Natani doesn't have any books on Keidran anatomy," Mike finished, huffing for breath by the end.

"I feel like there's a spell for this sort of thing," Evalyn offered up as Mike ground some pepper into the dish.

"Except that's an abjuration spell, and she doesn't have much on that either," Mike informed the dog gloomily.

"...so I'm stuck like this is what you're saying."

"For now, yes," Mike confirmed as he slid the omelet out of the frying pan and onto a large ceramic plate. "And..."

Evalyn leaned back in her chair as Mike walked over with their breakfast. The galley was quiet for a few seconds, and then Mike spoke again, in a rare moment of relatively aggressive dialogue.

"You kind of deserved this one."

"What?" Evalyn yelled in disbelief.

"After everything you did to Michelle, and by proxy, me, I think this is a nice change of perspective," the fox stated, halving the omelet with a knife and then shoveling one of the sections onto Evalyn's plate.

"I was just trying to have a little fun, Mike! It was in good humor!" Evalyn defended. "Well, mostly anyways."

"It's the 'mostly' part that scares me."

"I told you I was sorry, right? I mean, what happened to that?"

"I didn't say I didn't forgive you," Mike pointed out, taking the inaugural bite of his work. "But while I'm trying to find a solution, maybe you can take a little time to...enjoy Michelle's experience."

Evalyn slowly nodded her head in the negative as she dissected her breakfast. "I'm not going to like it," she grumbled antagonistically.

"It's just for a couple days, at the worst. No longer than when Michelle was around," the fox assured. "You can do this, Evals."

Evalyn whined back, unmoved and with her head sadly, dejectedly resting on her fist. Mike set his fork down on his plate and reached over the table to gently, sympathetically pat Evalyn on the head. He managed to get a soft "woof" of appreciation for his efforts after a few moments, and he also heard the soft, rapid tapping of her foot bouncing up and down on the wooden floor. "You know I hate being scratched there," she cynically mumbled, minimizing emotion.

"Well, if it perks you back up, it's worth it," Mike warmly answered. "Besides, we got plenty of time for now. I mean, Keith and Natani aren't going to be back for..."

Evalyn looked back up at Mike. He was fixated on the ceiling, ears fully alert, as if he was scanning for something. "Mike?" she addressed.

"Shhh!" Mike sharply responded, still waiting expectantly for something. Evalyn kept quiet for another moment, and was about to ask again what was holding the fox's interest until the sound of footsteps running across the deck above answered the question preemptively.

The fox's ears twitched and he took his hand down from Evalyn's head. "Something's up there," Mike observed as he excused himself and made towards the stairs.

"Want me to come with?" Evalyn offered.

"No, it's fine," Mike declined. "Probably just a cat or something."

"That must be one heavy cat then, if it's making that much noise," Evalyn pointed out.

Mike stopped at the stairwell at that remark, and, improvising, shuffled over to the door to its right, the maintenance cabinet. He opened it up, searched for a moment, and grabbed the only suitable weapon he could think of at the time.

"...a broom?" Evalyn criticized, perplexed by the sheer absurdity of her friend's choice of armament.

Mike choked up on the handle, holding it next to his body like a greatsword, bristles skyward. "Do you have a better idea?" he barked back, minimizing his volume.

"And why are you whispering?" Evalyn started to giggle. "Mike, you're checking a disturbance, not breaking into the Templar archives."

"Just stay there and don't let anyone in."

"Aye, aye, captain," Evalyn sarcastically saluted the fox as he slowly began to move up the stairs.

Mike reached the hatch leading to the main deck, and slowly, carefully flipped the grating over with one hand, gently setting it down to minimize the sound he made. He stealthily crawled up onto the main deck, one hand down to support his weight, and inched towards a position behind the mast. He sat down to calm himself and modulate his breathing.

He shut his eyes for a moment and tried to relax. Mike hated tension. For someone who enjoyed leading a low-stress life with few complications, so far this trip had provided everything but. Between Michelle, Evalyn and now this, the fox was in desperate need of some peace and calm. Mike quietly put the broom down and nervously gripped his tail. This was his best plan at the time, just hiding. If he couldn't see them, they couldn't see him.

Then, out of fright, Mike found himself trying to find reassurance in prayer. He wasn't quite sure what came over him. He wasn't sure what exactly about the scenario prompted it. The fox wasn't even that religious either. And yet there he was, quietly, quickly reciting a Fox tribal chant he was taught as a kit.

"You are a strong fox. Nobody will ever break you.

"You are a fast fox. Nobody will ever catch you.

"You are an intelligent fox. Nobody will ever outwit you."

"You are a weird fox," came another voice next to him.

"Yes, I am a very weird fox..." Mike started to repeat, and then abruptly stopped once he noticed that didn't sound right. In fact, what exactly did that line come from? Mike reopened his eyes and instinctually glanced towards his left. He was greeted, rather suddenly, by a young Basitin leaning on his leg, looking directly at him with bright yellow eyes.

"Hi there, Mr. Orangetail!" Madelyn Adelaide happily greeted the fox.

Rather than giving a more civilized introduction, Mike instead decided on a sharp, loud "Yipe!" as he relinquished his tail, hastily grabbed the broom and wildly swung at the intruder. Madelyn went prone onto the fox's lap as the broom swooshed over her head and clacked harmlessly off the wooden pole.

"Get off of my ship, you!" Mike yelled in panic, without bothering to fully identify the visitor. He pulled the broom back and wound up to take another swing.

"Mr. Orangetail! It's Madelyn!" the Basitin hurriedly exclaimed, preemptively ducking for the next attack. "Please stop trying to broom me!"

The Keidran's arm halted above his head, and then the broom clattered to the ground once he saw who the perpetrator was. He breathed heavily and leaned against the mast, trying to calm himself down. "Hi, Maddie," he gasped. "Don't scare me like that."

"Why were you trying to hit me with a broom?"

Mike turned his head back to the cleaning supply, then back to Madelyn, then innocuously kicked it away with the back of his foot, sending it tumbling across the deck. "This really isn't a good time for you to visit," Mike answered. As fun as Madelyn was to have around, she tended to cause a lot of chaos wherever she went. Between setting the Na'Rella's cargo hold on fire, nearly totaling the galley and somehow managing to break out of the ship's brig  _twice_ , Mike found her to be much more trouble than she was worth, yet another source of unnecessary stress. Thusly, the less time the Keidran had to spend dealing with her, the more time he could spend researching the spell and the less time he would have to worry about what part of the Quantum Madelyn would decide to spontaneously combust today.

"Aw, why not?" Madelyn asked turning her head to the side slightly. "You're not the only one here, aren't you?"

"Well, Evals is here too, but that isn't the point," Mike retorted. "I'm a bit busy, so I need you to..."

"What are you doing? Can I help out?"

"Maddie, I love your enthusiasm, but I can handle this myself. I'm just helping Evals. He's...uh..he's..." The fox's voice died off as he realized he didn't think this excuse all the way through yet.

"Is he sick?"

"Yes, that's it," Mike jumped on the Basitin's inadvertent offer. "She...I mean  _he_  is very, very sick and I was actually about to run out to find some medicine for him."

Madelyn's ears drooped. "Poor woof-woof," she glumly replied. That was another thing Mike never understood. It was evident that Madelyn clearly remembered who he and Evals were, and yet she still resorted to nicknames that a kid would think up. Orangetail? Woof-woof? It was cute in a childish sense, but Madelyn must have been thirteen years old by this point, maybe fourteen. Mike would have thought that his given name would be more appropriate for the occasion. But, whatever. If he was remembered as Mr. Orangetail by the young captain, then Mr. Orangetail he shall be.

"So, yeah, that's why you can't really be here right now," Mike pressed as he stood up to shoo the Basitin away. "Off you go."

"Wait, I know what I can do!" Madelyn jumped up, raising her hand like she just got asked a question in school. "There's an herbalist a few blocks past the docks. Tell me what you need!"

"Thank you, Maddie, but I can handle this myself," the fox quickly said back, forcibly turning Madelyn around and lightly pushing her towards the port side exit. "Now get out of here."

"Aw, come on, Mr. Orangetail. Please?" Madelyn begged.

"It's just medicine, and I know what I'm looking for."

"What if you can't get it?"

Mike's face went befuddled. "What if I can't get it? What kind of a question is that?"

"Did you ever get past customs? Are you allowed on the island?"

"No, but I can probably get by them perfectly..."

"The shelves at the herbalist's are kinda high for you too, but I can climb them!"

"What do you mean the..."

"You're just a little vertically challenged is all."

Mike nearly blew a fuse when he heard that. "V-vertically challenged!?" he half-yelled, half-demanded for a repeat. He knew he struggled to reach the five-foot-six mark, and he was well aware that his stature was abnormally short for a male Coastal Fox. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of that by this pipsqueak who probably wasn't even out of the four-foot range yet.

"There, you see? I can help out!" Madelyn insisted, with no respect paid to the astronomical leap in logic. "So, what am I getting?"

The Keidran would have protested more, until he realized his chances of winning this debate against a hyperactive young girl dedicated to being useful in  _some_  capacity were practically nonexistent. Mike sighed in defeat, and mentally scanned through the ship's supplies, thinking on what could be useful to have.

After purging his mind of her earlier comments about his lack of height, he bent down to the Basitin's height to look at her directly. "Look, if you're this bent on helping out," Mike stated, detaching a small coin purse from a rope holster on his pants. "Then why don't you go see what your herbalist friend has as far as cold medicine and painkillers go? Put whatever you can find in a bag and drop it next to the railing there," he directed, pointing at the banister, where the stairs to the bridge met the main deck.

Madelyn's eyes lit back up as she gleefully saluted Mike. "I'm on it, Mr. Orangetail! Back in a flash!"

"And call me Mike, for Gods' sakes," he remanded as he counted out five gold pieces and dropped them into Madelyn's free hand. "Buy whatever you can with this, alright?"

"Yes, sir!" Madelyn exclaimed as she stuffed the coins into her pocket and started to run off of the ship. Mike faintly smiled as she finally began her exit, but it quickly vanished as she skidded to a halt to turn back to the fox. "Oh, yeah, that's right!" she reminded herself as she jostled her hand around in the inside of her golden cape. Her eyes widened slightly once she finished, and moved to the other side of it. "Now where is it...?"

"What exactly is it, Maddie?" Mike asked, foot impatiently tapping on the Quantum's deck.

"I had something for you, I thought," Madelyn said as she started to rifle around in the side pockets of her pants. "It was from Keith, and...aha!" she brightly declared as she yanked a rolled up sheet of parchment out of her back pocket and handed it over to the sailor. "Here you are!"

Mike took the parchment, a neatly rolled-up document secured with a blue ribbon and silver wax stamp of the Basidian Isles' coat of arms. "And this is...?" he asked, hoping for a little more information.

"Open it up and find out, silly!" the Basitin called back as she ran back onto the shipyard's docks. "I'll be back before you know it!"

Mike's eyes followed her as she turned a corner and then disappeared behind the nearby trading vessel. He exhaled with relief as he lost line of sight, and slipped the ribbon off of the transmittal. "Crazy kid," he murmured to himself. Madelyn may have been a lot to handle at once, but it was hard not to be upset after talking to her. Mike was pretty sure that he didn't see Madelyn not smiling at any time during her trip on the Na'Rella. He enjoyed that persistent optimism she always seemed to display, even if she got easily overexcited and occasionally a bit creepy.

"Alright, Keith, what's going on?" he thought out loud as he unrolled the parchment sheet and speedily read through it. The fox didn't catch all of the details, but the ones he did read made him shudder a bit, and he wasn't quite sure if it was in anticipation or surprise.

"We're headed into wolf country," he softly said.

* * *

 

Chapter 14

"And he said he'd do all of this in three weeks?" Zen incredulously inquired as he proceeded down the grey brickwork road. Today wasn't a marvelous day to be out in the capital of the Forest Wolves. It had been depressingly overcast since Zen woke up, and just started to rain five minutes before Natani called him. Almost nobody else was walking in the street at the time, and those who were had the prudence to bring along an umbrella with them. Not Zen, though. Being an assassin meant living without luxuries when on a job, and that included rain protection. His hooded, insulated shirt helped a bit, but the rain penetrated it regardless, moistening the brown fur beneath. He shivered a bit at the water's frigidity, but continued to move through the downpour at a decent enough pace regardless.

" _I didn't think that was too unreasonable,_ " Natani defended, her mental projection accompanying her brother on his promenade through the torrent. She had just finished recounting the events of last night to Zen and was now physically strolling down a Basitin marketplace by herself. " _Why? Did something happen?_ "

"No, and with Clovis and Blitz I can make it work," Zen reassured, shaking the accumulating water off of his hood. "But, jeesh, Nat. Your boyfriend's a real slave driver, you know that?"

" _He's NOT my boyfriend!_ " Natani yelled viciously, then clapped a hand over her mouth as her face went red. Presumably everybody in the market heard that outburst and she was trying not to draw any more attention.

Zen snickered a bit as his sibling recuperated, waiting for everything to settle down. " _Do you see what you made me do?_ " Natani growled back.

"Nope, and that makes it even better," Zen chortled.

" _Back to the hearing,_ " Natani corrected the conversation's course. " _There was a spy listening in on it. He was posing as one of the King's advisors._ "

Zen's smile immediately dropped from his face. "Oh, that's not good," he needlessly noted. "What happened to the real one?"

" _Who knows, probably dead,_ " Natani answered, disconcertingly unconcerned about the missing advisor's well being. " _He had a recorder crystal on him too. I'm guessing it was going to whoever gave him those papers he was playing with._ "

"He's supposed to look like a Basitin official, Nat," Zen pointed out. "He'd look more out of place if he  _didn't_  have papers with him."

" _Except they weren't the ones everyone else had,_ " Natani added. " _They had this weird symbol on them, too. Skull, two swords...why did you stop walking?_ "

Zen looked nothing short of stunned as Natani simply gawked at him waiting for a response. "Good Gods, Clovis was right on the money," he mumbled, rubbing his lower jaw contemplatively.

" _Zen, what does this have to do with Clovis?_ " Natani asked as her brother caught up with her.

"We were playing with the idea that the people chasing Clovis and the people chasing Keith might be the same guys, and this practically confirms it."

Natani's projection raised an eyebrow in piqued confusion. " _I fail to see how. I mean, what would a group want with someone like Clovis while also chasing down a diplomat?_ "

"War profiteering," Zen quickly replied, taking a sharp right turn down a flooding alleyway, the rainwater coming up over his feet. "They're called The Fang, and they make their bread selling to the military. Soldier contracts, weapons, gear, mage supplies, you get the idea."

" _Ah,_ " Natani smiled as she followed Zen. " _That would explain the bandits, wouldn't it?_ "

"Yep," Zen confirmed. "Got hired by The Fang to bump off Keith, we figured. Basitins get sucked in, Wolves get into an even bigger war. Demand goes up, prices go up, and Fang's profits go up."

" _Tricky,_ " Natani lauded. " _So, why go after Clovis, then?_ "

"Well, you know when I said that I needed someone who had eyes and ears all over the city?" Zen recalled.

Natani looked at Zen in a disbelieving fashion. " _Are they really afraid Clovis is going to tattle on them?_ "

"Or at least that he'll step on their tails," Zen responded. "So they've been picking off his agents trying to keep them quiet." Zen turned his head to Natani, proudly in a brotherly way.

"This is going to help out a ton in a second, Nat," Zen smiled at the younger Magi Brother. "How'd you figure all of this out?"

" _Figure what out?_ "

"The Fang, that fake Basitin, how'd you do it?"

Natani sheepishly looked at the ground. " _It's going to sound really, really strange,_ " she warned.

"Well, I've seen you and Keith make out before, so I think I can handle..."

" _We KISSED, Zen! There's a GIGANTIC difference!_ " Natani boomed again, this time not even bothering with the confused and traumatized bystanders. " _I swear, if you weren't on the other half of the map right now..._ "

"I'd still be making fun of you."

" _Shuddup, Zen!_ "

Zen inexplicably sighed with delight as he heard Natani tell him to shut up. "It's been  _way_  too long since you told me that," he beamed. "So, come on, Nat! What was the secret?"

" _...a squirrel told me,_ " she answered, as if it was a common occurrence.

Zen had to perk an ear to make sure he caught his brother's words correctly. "Sorry, Nat. A  _squirrel_?"

" _I only wish I was making this up,_ " Natani lamented as she rubbed her forehead.

The brothers were quiet for a moment, still trying to comprehend how Natani got her information. Until Zen wondered under what circumstances that would even work. "How in the world does...?"

" _Zen, if I knew how that made any sense, I'd tell you,_ " Natani cut him off, shamefully.

"I mean...it's a squirrel, Nat," Zen tried to talk it through.

" _I told you it sounded crazy._ "

"No, sounding crazy means that it  _could_  happen."

" _I'm being dead serious, Zen!_ "

"Like, how would it even talk to you? Did it squeak code at you or something like that?"

" _That's actually exactly what it did!_ "

Zen covered his eyes with his hand. "Natani, what have the Basitins done to you?" he sorrowfully asked.

" _Look, if it helps..._ "

"It's not going to," Zen chortled. "You are not recovering from the talking squirrel. Nothing in the world is going to top that."

Natani sighed exasperatedly. " _I did detect some illusionary magic where the spy was sitting, so I'm not completely insane._ "

"I dunno, Nat," Zen teased behind his hood. "A few more talking squirrels and you'll have your own room at the asylum!"

" _I am_ not _going...you know what? No,_ " Natani shook her head. " _I'm not going to react. You can't make fun of me if I don't react to it._ "

"If you'd like, I can give Keith the visiting hours," Zen singsongingly smirked.

" _Sod off, Zen!_ " Natani barked a third time as Zen heartily laughed between his teeth, making a distinct whistling sound. This was one of Zen's favorite pastimes: just talking with his brother and making sure he knew that he was still biologically a sister. Sure, Natani's mind and spirit were practically identical to Zen's; it was simply a byproduct of their operation. But there was a distinct physical difference between the two assassins, and Zen loved to point them out as frequently as he could, to the acute displeasure of his sibling.

Zen pulled his hood further over his head as he exited the alley into another cobblestone street. The rain was now coming down hard enough to start to neutralize the city's colors into a bland grey tone, but he did see an amorphous white and blue blob of color on the far end of the street. A couple seconds passed, and it seemed to nod in Zen's direction. Zen returned the gesture and then turned his head back to Natani.

"That's my contact," Zen said as he began crossing the street. "We're going on a little intel hunt."

" _I should probably get going then._ "

"I'll get back to you once we're done," Zen grinned in Natani's direction. "You take care, Little Brother."

" _Try not to get captured this time, alright?_ "

"I can definitely try."

" _You better call me back if you don't,_ " Natani responded as her image evaporated from Zen's mind. Zen exhaled out loud, not too audibly, to clear his mind and regain focus. He finished his cross as the mess of color gradually faded into a more recognizable shape: a Polar Fox leaning against a wooden storefront repeatedly flicking a knife open and shut again.

Blitz casually looked up at his lupine companion and raised his visible eyebrow. "How have you not gotten pneumonia yet, mate?"

"It's not that bad," Zen observed, looking back up at the unpleasantly cloudy sky. "If anything, it looks like it's clearing up a bit."

"You're dripping," Blitz pointed at the small puddle forming underneath the wolf with his blade.

Zen looked down as well and shrugged at it. "Okay, maybe I am a little wet," he admitted.

Blitz slapped his knife shut and flipped the blue hood of his shirt over his head. "You get in touch with Clovis yet?" he asked as both fox and wolf exited back out into the rainy street.

"I was just about to, actually," Zen informed, pressing the first two fingers of his right hand against the side of his forehead. He shut his eyes momentarily, focusing, directing the mental link towards the half-fox's end. A nice, even ringing noise was his reward, as Clovis' projection faded in next to Zen. Clovis himself was currently standing and surveying something on his desk, so to the wolf he was simply hovering to his left, gliding along wherever he walked. Zen disregarded the ridiculousness of the projection and talked to Clovis like he was actually with him and Blitz.

" _Have a nice chat with your sister, Zen?_ " Clovis flatly asked, still looking over whatever he was staring at. Despite his best efforts to come across as serious, Zen knew Clovis too well. He was going to enjoy orchestrating this job. Enthusiasm aside, Clovis loved playing games where he was in control. Even for jobs like this. Zen didn't like the fact that he was, for all intents and purposes, Clovis' pawn for this, but remembering that this was for Natani seemed to mitigate the feeling somewhat. He held a larger role than it at first appeared. So, maybe he was more like Clovis' bishop, then? Rook, possibly?

Zen shook his head to wake himself up from the quickly disintegrating metaphor and looked back to his employer, who looked like he was being pulled along on a pair of invisible skis. "She's doing okay," he answered. "The Basitin's hearing ended, by the way. We have three weeks before the whole continent erupts."

"You _have three weeks,_ " Clovis snidely pointed out. " _I have all the time in the world._ "

"You're not helping, C."

Clovis' ears flipped up. " _Ooh, C. Now that's a good one,_ " Clovis said to himself. " _See, even you can think up good nicknames when you put your mind to it._ "

"Are we starting this briefing soon or not?"

"Zen, is everything alright?" Blitz checked on the wolf. He could only hear one half of the conversation, but he felt confident that the two were probably arguing again.

"I'm fine, he's just being Clovis," Zen immediately responded, then turned back to the hybrid. "Seriously, though, we're ready."

" _Very well then,_ " Clovis stated, standing fully up from his previous position. " _Then have Blitz take the crystal out his pocket and tap it a few times._ "

"Uh, Blitz?" Zen started to request.

"Way ahead of you," the fox replied as he pulled out a deep violet colored crystal and flicked it two or three times with his forefinger. The crystal hummed softly and began to radiate more brightly, as Blitz slipped it back into his pants pocket.

"Can you hear me boss?" he asked out loud. He didn't expect to see Clovis with the crystal he was given prior, but he should at least be able to hear him.

" _I can indeed,_ " Clovis confirmed, as Zen watched him collapse into a large cushioned chair, classily folding his arms in front of him and crossing his legs. Zen still despised that habit, and Clovis never seemed to notice what was wrong with it. Or if he did, he didn't care about it, the more likely option. Zen didn't mind the fact that Clovis was the person organizing and coordinating this job; somebody had to stay behind and do it, and Clovis just happened to be exceptionally good at the position. But he didn't have to rub in the fact that he was inside his manor, sitting comfortably in his favorite chair, probably next to a decently sized fire no doubt, while Blitz and Zen trekked through a frigid rainstorm with almost no means of keeping warm.

"Excellent," Blitz commented with a slight degree of disgust. He was likely thinking the same as Zen right now. "So what are we doing today?"

" _So Zen and I had a theory last night that The Fang might be trying to get a war up and running soon,_ " Clovis began his briefing. " _And today, we're going to see exactly if we're correct._ "

"You gave us an address, but never told us what it was," Zen responded as he and Blitz turned down a side street to the right.

" _Yes, and I did that for a reason,_ " Clovis elaborated, reaching in front of him and gently grabbing a crystalline glass full of red wine.

"Better be a good one, then," Zen cynically commented as the half-fox took a small sip of his drink.

" _You're..._ " was all Clovis managed to say before he broke out into a spontaneous, violent coughing fit. He quickly set the glass down and doubled over, smothering his mouth with his elbow for a few moments. Behind his hood, Zen was smugly grinning as the half-fox received his comeuppance, as was Blitz, even if his bandana kept his expression mostly neutral.

Clovis finally recovered and sat himself back up. " _I think I learned my lesson,_ " he noted, dignifiedly, hiding his embarrassment to the best of his abilities. " _Where were we now?_ "

"Where are we going, Clovis?" Zen requested his destination again.

" _Ah, yes. Of course,_ " Clovis reminded himself. " _That address happens to be The Fang's main 'business office,' if you would, and you two are going to see what they've been doing lately._ "

Zen's ears flipped up with interest. "Go in, steal some files, don't get caught, get out?" he quickly deduced the rest of Clovis' plan.

"Sounds simple enough," Blitz nodded.

" _Now you just went and spoiled everything I was about to say, Zen. That wasn't very nice,_ " the half-fox groaned, upset that he was quickly becoming obsolete for this mission. " _I didn't even get to tell you how you're getting in,_ " he melodramatically sighed.

Blitz curiously glanced over at the invisible projection. "I'm guessing the answer isn't 'through the front door,' is it, boss?"

" _Well, actually it is,_ " Clovis huffed. " _I called in a few favors last night and managed to get us all posed as arms dealers. They'll be expecting you._ "

"What exactly did you tell them?" Zen asked, eyes narrowing in the hopes that the half-fox didn't say he'd regret.

" _Nothing sensitive,_ " Clovis answered. " _Just that two of my best agents, Seth and Krieg, would come over to their place today to finalize our deal. And they won't recognize my voice either, if that ever becomes a concern._ " Clovis clapped his hands and held them out. " _So worry not, my friends. I have everything under control._ "

"And let me guess..." Zen began.

" _I'd like to keep it like that, precisely,_ " the half-fox chided as he leered demeaningly over to the wolf. " _And that means I'd rather keep this low profile. So if you two would be so kind as to...restrain yourselves from killing anyone, it'd be much appreciated._ "

"Permission to use non-lethal force, then?" Blitz politely requested.

" _Knock yourself out,_ " Clovis granted permission. " _No pun intended, of course. Now, I'm sure you two know what we're after, yes?_ "

"We'll be looking for anything that can tie The Fang to the Basitins," Blitz stated. "You got any ideas?"

" _Any mercenary group that knows what they're doing keeps their records somewhere,_ " Clovis replied. " _Though considering this hearing happened only yesterday..._ "

"The files might be somewhere else," Zen deduced.

" _Let me know if you need more time digging,_ " Clovis instructed. " _I have a few methods of distraction if you need them._ "

Zen pushed a hand down his shirt and pulled out a thin string loosely hanging around his neck. Tied to it were seven blue mana crystals, each fully charged. "Natani showed me a few things about illusion magic if things go south too," he told Blitz, showing him the rudimentary mana necklace.

"I don't expect they will," Blitz confidently replied as he stopped in front of a large, two-story stonework building off to the left of the street. A wooden sign, covered in fading green paint, displayed The Fang's notorious skull and swords logo as it gently swung back and forth in the wet wind. The appearance of the building deceived its true purpose; this was obviously where The Fang did most of their work according to Clovis' scouts, but one would have never suspected that just by walking by. With the large number of windows, ornate doors and well placed torches on the path leading to them, the operations building looked simply like a commonplace inn. Even the name used under the sign was false, identifying itself as the "Dead Man's Tavern" instead.

A quick flash of lightning lit up the cloudy backdrop to the building, followed by a soft, distant, reverberating rumble of thunder. Zen idly looked to his companions on his left and right. Clovis had regained the confidence to sip on his wine again and not choke on it, and Blitz blankly, objectively examined the creaking sign hanging above the doorway, at the lack of anything better to look at.

" _This would be it,_ " Clovis crookedly smiled, resting his head on his hand. " _There's a viewing orb on my desk, incidentally. I'll be keeping an eye on you._ "

Zen didn't find that too reassuring, but nodded slightly in thanks anyways. He turned his head back to Blitz as the image of Clovis began to shimmer out of sight. "Right, shall we head in, Bli... I mean, Mr. Krieg?" he corrected himself, trying to get accustomed to his partner's new alias.

Blitz waved an arm in front of him. "After you, my dear Seth," he courteously, warmly replied.

* * *

 

Three resounding, hard knocks pounded the door's outside as the scrawny, white-furred wolf Keidran known as Alexei finished tallying the bar's revenues for the hour. The count was low, but it was to be expected for a stormy weekday morning. Not to mention profits from the tavern itself were inconsequential compared to the real business conducted here. Alexei thoroughly enjoyed his work, basic as it was. Just holding a simple position, like working the illusion of normal business, felt empowering, like he had become something larger than himself, even if he was essentially a grunt for the time being.

Technically, that was not entirely true right now. The title of "grunt" implied that all he was really good for was just being there, as a low-ranking nobody who just got on board with The Fang for easy money. Alexei didn't like that. He wasn't that petty. He was determined to be useful, and this happened to be precisely what he needed to prove it.

Alexei set the gold coin stack out of sight of the public, if one highly intoxicated dog snoozing away in the far corner of the pub counted as "the public," and made haste towards the main door. He grabbed the decorative brass handle and slowly creaked it open, allowing the iron chain lock to gradually tense up and prevent the door from opening any further than a few inches.

Two Keidran, both wearing hooded shirts and towering over Alexei in the height category, were there to greet him. The one in black was definitely a Forest Wolf, as his bright brown fur and longer muzzle indicated. As for the second, Alexei could only assume that he was an Arctic Wolf. Maybe if the black bandana cloaking his lower face wasn't there, he'd be able to more accurately identify his tribe.

"What do you want?" Alexei gruffly addressed the two visitors. The routine was practiced, and Alexei knew it well. Let them earn your respect. Be cold to them at first and let them warm up to you.

"This The Fang's headquarters?" the brown-furred wolf demanded. His hood was positioned just right to prevent Alexei from looking directly at his eyes, so he wasn't sure whether the question was directed at him or his partner.

Alexei assumed it was the former. "So what if it is?" he barked back.

"My name is Seth, and this is my associate Krieg," the wolf introduced. "We got sent to organize an arms deal with you guys."

Alexei recognized the names straight away. He quickly slammed the door shut, disengaged the bolt lock, and then reopened the door proper. "Should have said that in the first place then," he scolded the two dealers as they exited the rainstorm. Both of them dropped their hoods as they entered, and Alexei could now tell the one named Krieg was actually a Polar Fox, signified by the black-tipped ears. His heart sunk a bit as his prospects of doing business with his own tribe dropped to zero, but it wasn't deal breaking at all. A little bit of common ground would have been appreciated however.

"You two thirsty at all?" Alexei offered as he mantled the bar, ready to take any orders.

"Don't drink," Krieg succinctly responded, in a low, grumbling baritone.

"I'm fine for now as well," Seth also declined. "We can celebrate once we get this deal ironed out, alright?"

_Well, they're fun,_  Alexei said to himself. "I have a meeting space in the back we can use," he informed Seth as he slid over the bar again. "Right this way," he directed as he began to escort the wolf and fox towards the basic wood door on the far wall of the tavern.

Seth nodded obediently and started follow, but Krieg seemed more interested in the snoring dog. Alexei stopped himself and walked back to him. "What is it now?" he asked with annoyance.

"Who's the dog?" Krieg mumbled, slowly pointing at the drunken canine. He arms were crossed, head tilted limply onto his shoulder, a small amount of drool being absorbed by the grungy white shirt that probably hadn't been washed in weeks. The dog inhaled loudly and tilted the bottle in his hand just enough to stain his bright yellow coat a dirty brown.

"Hurley," Alexei responded. "He's not going to hurt anyone, trust me." He tugged on the fox's collar, trying to usher him along.

Krieg swatted Alexei's hand away, and gradually, menacingly turned to him. "Don't touch," he imperatively commanded as he looked down at the white wolf, demeaningly. "Ever again."

"Calm down, there, old man," Alexei snapped back. "Just trying to keep things..."

"What'd you say?" Krieg boomed, his solitary blue eye forcefully staring at the runty wolf.

Alexei defiantly glared back up at Krieg, even though he knew he'd likely lose any fight against him. Hand to hand, that was. What he lacked in physical strength he made up for in trickery. He casually reached for his back pocket, where he kept a basic flintlock pistol he never drew except for emergencies. This didn't quite qualify as one, but Alexei was the one who made that decision. He gripped the stock, resting his forefinger above the trigger, silently clicking the hammer back with his thumb. On the other side, Krieg slipped his hand into the pouch on his shirt, slowly opening his blade with his thumb, ready to draw it at any second.

The deal had transformed, in a matter of seconds, into the tensest standoff Alexei had ever been a part of. He had gotten into these sorts of scrapes before, but nothing quite like this one. It was all about the timing. The intensity. Who goes first, who reacts, who did a better job at it. Alexei was prepared...

Until the other wolf, Seth, literally stepped in, pushing the two adversaries apart. "Alright, we got off to a horrible start," he sorrowfully observed, shaking his head. "It doesn't have to be like this, gents."

"He started it," Alexei accused.

"And I'm ending it," Seth snapped. "For Gods' sakes, we're businessmen. We're all here for one thing, and this is not it."

All three Keidran fell silent again, their eyes jumping from one to the other. Alexei was the first to act, releasing his thumb from the pistol's hammer and shoving his hand back into his front pocket. Krieg likewise clicked his knife shut and crossed his arms in front of him.

"There, you see that?" Seth beamed. "This is much better, and I'd love for it to stay this way."

Alexei crisply turned away from Krieg and continued his walk back to the pub's back room. "He sits on the far end of the table," he spat as he pointed back to the fox.

"Prick," Krieg whispered over to his comrade.

"He say something?" Alexei called back.

"He wanted to know where we were meeting, Alexei," Seth answered on his friend's behalf.

The Arctic Wolf answered by kicking in the back wall's door, leading to the bar's storeroom. A relatively run-of-the-mill one at that too. There wasn't anything too special about it; just a few bottles lined up on otherwise vacated shelving units, and a few food items scattered on square cloth placemats. It also seemed to be a bit cramped for space as well. With the dimensions as they were, one could have easily thought that the back room was actually meant to be a bathroom at one point.

The claustrophobia was done away with somewhat as Alexei knelt down and lifted up a section of the floorboards beneath him. He flipped it over its hinges like a trap door, revealing a dimly lit stairwell leading to the basement. He motioned for the two arms dealers to follow as he descended into the darkness, watching his footing and trying not to trip over himself as he went down. Seth took the stairs a bit more slowly, to the displeasure of Krieg, as he stood at the top of the staircase waiting for his partner to finish his descent.

Alexei felt around in his front pocket for a small cardboard box and opened it up, blinded by the pitch darkness of the room. He felt around in the box for a match and, after fumbling with it for a moment, managed to grab one and strike it against the box's textured surface. The flame produced did little to cure the basement's lack of light, but the cloth torch it ignited, riveted to the wooden support beam next to him, seemed to be much more effective. Alexei turned around and did the same to a second torch, filling the dank, dismal room with an eerie red-orange glow.

Seth finally stepped down on the chilly stone floor and looked around. The torches also served to unveil a few more important components of the basement, previously hiding in the black. On the wall farthest from the staircase hung a world map, with red and black ink markings scrawled across it in every direction. It was stationed above a long, rectangular table with quills, letters, documents, books and scrolls all tossed about it haphazardly and carelessly, like someone left their kid down there for the day. To Seth's relief Alexei pulled a medium-sized stool out from underneath the closer, square shaped table that had much less activity on its surface. Seth looked over his shoulder and noticed a good amount of the basement's floor space was actually behind the stairs. The torches' flames weren't quite bright enough to produce more detail than that, but the basement was deceptively large, especially considering the room above was quite the opposite.

Krieg shut the trap door behind him as he slowly proceeded down the steps, brushed past Seth and took a seat across from Alexei. Seth finished his inspection of the floor and sat down between the two, leaving one side of the square table unoccupied. "The place always this empty?" he asked his lupine peer.

"Higher-ups are at a meeting somewhere else," Alexei replied, planting two crossed arms in front of him. "It's just me working the bar upstairs for now."

_He's lying. The second floor is the house barracks. There's at least six of them._

"This isn't the first deal we've ever made, Alexei," Seth mentioned, stretching his arms behind his head. "Nobody ever leaves this big an establishment for just one person to look after. How long you been working here?"

Alexei sternly looked over to Krieg, who looked like he was going for the knife in his pocket again. His eyes jumped back to Seth, who was still the more personable of the two right now. "Second year," he responded.

"Didn't think it was too long," Seth continued. "Now, let's try again. Are we alone?"

There was a small pause in between the question and answer. "...the guard's quarters are upstairs on the second floor," Alexei mumbled.

"That's what I thought," Seth grinned toothily as he leaned his forearm on top of the table.

"Don't lie," Krieg rumbled in a deep, gravelly tone as he flipped the knife open and pointed it at the Arctic Wolf.

"Is there some reason this guy can't say more than three words at a time?" Alexei demanded, annoyed with the fox's habit already.

"You don't bother him and he won't bother you," Seth informed his client, completely ignoring his question. "Besides, don't we have something more important to be worrying about?"

_If he asks, tell him you work for Regis._

"Right," Alexei nodded. "We got a mail from your boss late last night about this. I don't have it on me at the moment."

"It's okay," Seth put a hand up. "Regis told us everything we needed to know."

"Let's do it then," Alexei spoke as he stood up and went to the messier of the two tables, rifling through the papers strewn about on it. "Now, where are you?" he asked himself, pushing the various documents out of the way.

_Oh, now that is a mistake._

"What's wrong?" Krieg rumbled as he stood up from his stool.

"Nothing, thank you," Alexei barked back. "We had a list for you two and for some reason I can't..." His mood brightened as a piece of letter paper caught his eye, his own handwriting.

"Ah, here we are," he said as he picked the paper up and checked it for accuracy. After ensuring the order was correct, he gave the document a quick horizontal fold through the center and turned back to the table. "Now, we..."

His mouth ceased to move. His body was no longer his own. His mind felt dominated. His will completely taken over.

All he remembered seeing as he turned back to address Seth and Krieg was a bright, entrancing, beautiful green light.

* * *

 

Chapter 15

"Zen, you can uncover your eyes whenever you're ready," Blitz said over his shoulder as he lightly pushed down on Alexei's, prompting him to kneel down. The Arctic Wolf never blinked, still mesmerized, charmed by the green glow emanating from the fox's left eye.

Zen put his slowly put his arms down and gradually stood himself up from the table. "I thought that, if I saw it..."

"You're not looking directly at it, mate. You're fine," he assured the wolf as he covered the magical eye back up again. "I'll deal with Alexei here, if you want to do some scouting."

"Gladly," Zen obediently responded as he tugged one of the hanging torches out of its socket.

Blitz began patting Alexei down and found the pistol hiding in his back pocket. With care, he slid it out of the wolf's trousers, trying not to fire it inadvertently. Once he noticed the hammer was disengaged, he felt a bit more comfortable inspecting the firearm in his left has he continued to search Alexei with his right.

"Hey, Zen!" he called over to the Forest Wolf. Blitz spun the pistol over until he held the barrel in his hand. Zen walked up behind him with interest. "Check it out," Blitz enthusiastically offered him the weapon.

"A handgun?" he curiously asked as he took the pistol from the fox.

"Yeah, good thing you stopped that fight when you did, eh?" Blitz responded, still searching the other wolf. "I didn't think those were even supposed to exist yet."

"They do if you know the right people," Zen stated as he pocketed the firearm for himself. "No wonder The Fang's so popular, they have all the fun toys."

"Yeah, let's see if their intel is any better," Blitz posited as he turned back to his victim. "Now, the first thing you're going to do when you wake up..."

Zen walked towards the darkness in the back of the basement, clutching the torch in his left hand, as he pressed against his temple with his right. "Clovis?"

" _I have to admit, I do feel a little bad for the kid. I was effectively cheating for you,_ " the half-fox's voice playfully said back.

"Since when do you care about whether you're cheating or not?" Zen asked as he began to explore the darkened area behind the stairs.

" _...fair play,_ " Clovis conceded.

Zen faintly smiled in triumph as he finally managed to outwit the closest thing he had to a rival at the time. "How do we look up top?"

" _Nobody's moving, for now at any rate. I'd say we're in the clear, my friend._ "

Zen waved the torch about, unsuccessfully finding the basement wall wherever he swung. He continued pacing around the stairs, tediously trying to find something,  _anything_  worthy of his attention. Another couple minutes of unsuccessful searching passed before he tried contacting Clovis again.

"Hey, foxboy, you know you can see where everything is, right?" Zen stated with annoyance.

" _True, but this is much more amusing,_ " Clovis admitted. " _It's like hide-and-seek but you know where everyone is._ "

"A little help would be lovely," Zen stated, encouragingly. Clovis was never really that good at taking a hint, or at least whenever Zen was working with him. He probably was, but just enjoyed messing with him.

" _Keep moving around, Zen. There should be a door nearby._ "

Zen took a decently-sized step in front of him.

" _Colder..._ " Clovis crooned.

Zen turned around and took two more steps in that direction.

" _Warmer._ "

Zen shuffled to his right a bit.

" _Ooh, colder again._ "

"Clovis, can you just tell me how to get the damn door already!?" Zen snapped in an outrage. He typically didn't get this angry with people, but Clovis' antics were now bordering on unbearable.

" _Look to your left,_ " Clovis advised, paying no mind to the wolf's recently vented rage.

Zen jerked his head to the left, then sighed and dropped both of his arms to his sides as he noticed what else but the door on the wall right next to him. "Screw you, Clovis," he whispered in a tone trying to blend exasperation and frustration.

" _Oh, you don't mean that,_ " the half-fox playfully responded. " _You know you need me._ "

"You'd be wrong if you weren't so right," Zen responded with annoyance as he opened the uncovered door. A well-organized office chamber met him, and this space had decent lighting for a change of pace, with two large gas lanterns hugging each of the side walls. Zen waved the torch to extinguish it and entered the bureau, leaving the door open for Blitz. The office was not overdone at all, save for a few decorative art pieces hung here and there throughout. A basic deep green rug was neatly placed on the floor as well, with two chairs resting on it for when company arrived. The desk sat on the far end of the room, in front of a row of towering bookshelves. Zen's attention was drawn to them almost immediately. Each case must have had seven shelves on them if not more, each one filled to capacity with books, organizers, and clipped stacks of paper.

Zen casually walked up to the center one directly behind the desk and picked out one of the paper stacks at eye level. Judging from the width, the stack had about fifty sheets of parchment in it, bound together by a thin metal clip on the upper corner. Zen flipped through the papers rapidly, skimming through their contents. Across all of them, there were a mess of incongruities: some were profiles, some were reports, some were simple letters. But they did have one thing in common. They all seemed to be past jobs, judging from the wording they used.

"Popular and busy," Zen noted out loud, replacing the papers back on the shelf. "Sounds like you might have competition, foxboy."

" _I don't like to think they are,_ " Clovis argued back. " _For one, they have rules._ "

Zen glanced over at the desk and started to rummage through it as well. It was too bad he was no longer a thief, since every drawer he opened seemed to contain something valuable. Silver inlaid inkpots, a gold-encrusted dagger, a very shiny letter opener that would have to be worth something... Zen had to resist the urge to lift anything. He was finished with that chapter of his life. He wouldn't call himself lawful by any stretch of the word; if he was he probably wouldn't be working with someone like Clovis right now. But he was done stealing. His work was stable enough to keep him and Natani alive and well. He didn't want the extra money. He didn't need it.

Seeing as how the drawers were a bust as far as his information was concerned, he turned his attention to the desk's surface instead. Much like the bookcases, the desktop was kept very tidy and clean. Ink pens neatly stored on the rack near the edge, writing parchment laid in a neat stack off to the side. The only thing that seemed out of place was another set of bound paper, placed nicely on the desk's center, like it was just set there. Zen picked it up.

The first page was a profile. An illustration of a black and white-furred Forest Wolf took up most of the upper left quadrant, while the upper right rattled off biological information. This was all tidied up with a long description of the wolf on the page's lower half. Zen scanned through it out of curiosity. The name had a distinct ring to it. Domino seemed to be what this particular character called himself. Six-foot-two, one-hundred-eighty pounds, grey eyes... Zen bored himself and flipped to the next page.

Zen grinned widely as he glanced at the next page of contents. "Perfect," he celebrated under his breath, then looked back up to the door, watching Blitz finish hypnotizing the Arctic Wolf from before. "Clovis, you see this?"

" _Hold that thought,_ " Clovis stated as an image of him glimmered into view, standing next to Zen. " _I think I should see this up close._ "

Zen tapped the papers in front of him as Blitz looked over from the far end of the basement. "Know what it is?" he asked the half-fox as he motioned for Blitz to join him.

" _That would a map of..._ " Clovis paused and leaned over the desk as he tried to analyze the parchment. The infamous smile finally appeared after a few moments. " _My word, this is the Basitin parliament building if I didn't know any better._ "

"Well, yeah, it says that on the bottom," Zen pointed out.

Clovis' eyes panned down and noticed the phrase "Basitin Parliament, Ground Floor" penned at the bottom of the map. " _Huh, so it does,_ " he nonchalantly commented.

"How much you want to bet that Domino guy was the spy at that hearing?"

" _You know I don't gamble,_ " Clovis smirked.

Zen quickly looked over the other papers in the pile as well. "Cover letters, receipts, more profiling..." he identified the documents out loud. He stopped again, this time noticing the face associated with the profile he was currently looking at. The sketch in the corner was of a Basitin, and judging from the small scar over his eye and the crook in his ear...

"And that's Keith," he told the half-fox, tapping the diplomat's portrait. "Hot damn, I think this is The Fang's playbook right here."

" _Best grab it then,_ " Clovis ordered as he continued to walk around the office. " _We'll have to spend some more time looking at that, won't we?_ "

Zen quickly scooped up the papers and walked over to Blitz, who was just entering the doorway. "What do you have there?" he asked, flicking his knife around again. He hurriedly closed it as his hands had to quickly make way for the pile of parchment the wolf was now forcing onto him.

"A gold mine," Zen happily replied, gently patting the documents. "Find a good spot for this." Blitz nodded as he flipped his satchel around and opened it with one hand as he slipped the papers into it with the other.

"That's it?" Blitz asked as he sorted the bag's contents.

"It's a packet on the parliament job. I'm pretty sure it's the only good thing in here right now."

" _Actually, some of these paintings are quite exquisite,_ " Clovis praised, fastidiously studying the bureau's artwork, resting his muzzle in one hand and gently stroking his lower jaw with his finger. " _This landscape in particular is very nicely done_."

"That's not what we're here for, Clovis," Zen remanded. "And we need to go."

" _Calm now, my friend. Nobody knows we're down here. We may as well enjoy ourselves while we have the time._ "

Blitz's ears jumped up as they picked up some muffled speech coming through the office ceiling, from the floor above. Zen caught a bit of it as well and looked up. "Where's Alexei? Thought he was down here?"

"Someone probably...ugh, Gods. We really need to do something about Hurley over there."

"Hey, he pays for the booze, so I'm not complaining."

"Yeah, whatever. What I was going say was, someone probably came in. Alexei's probably showing them around downstairs."

"Thinking we should check on him?"

A small pause. "Might as well. Whoever they are, hopefully they aren't being too rough with him."

Zen slowly turned his head towards the fox. "Blitz, did you ever...?" he started to ask, pointing in the direction of Alexei.

"No, I didn't hide Alexei yet."

Both of them looked at each other in silent panic, then jointly glared at the half-fox leaning against the office's wall. "Clovis..." they synchronously seethed.

" _Now now, in my defense, Zen, you were the one who told me I needed to see what was on the files._ "

"You could've been keeping watch upstairs during the downtime!" Zen hissed. He had a list of words for Clovis right now that he wanted to throw at him, but he was cut short by the creaking of the wood, as the panel covering the top of the basement stairs slowly opened.

Blitz silently shut the door to the office, turning the handle as quietly as he could manage. Zen cleared his head and began to organize a response. "Blitz, come with me. We're going to find a way out of here," Zen commanded as he marched over to the desk, digging the mana necklace out from beneath his shirt. He turned to Clovis' projection as he freed the reserve and pulled his hood back up.

"Clovis..." Zen lost his words momentarily. "...do something. I'm not sure what you can do, but...something."

" _Remember my distraction from earlier?_ " he offered with a smile.

"Good enough, just make it quick," Zen accepted as the half-fox disappeared yet again.

"What the hell?" came a surprised voice from the stairwell. The cover was now officially gone.

Zen and Blitz ducked down behind the desk, keeping movement to an absolute minimum. "What's the plan, mate?" Blitz whispered, calmly yet agitatedly.

"Just keep quiet and sneak around them," Zen responded, mentally preparing a spell.

"There's no cover in here," Blitz informed, peeking over the top of the desk. "We're made the moment we try to move."

"No we're not," Zen reassured as he held a hand in front of the fox and mumbled a word of power. "Absconditus."

Blitz watched two of the mana crystals on the necklace fade away, and then noticed that Zen's hand was starting to fade away as well. In fact, so was he. Bit by bit his body and clothing started to become transparent, see through, until he became completely invisible. The only way he knew Zen was still next to him was from the light passing through him, bending in a very abnormal manner, outlining his presence.

Blitz looked down at his own hand, or what he could make of it under the spell's effects. "Now that's cool," he commented as inspected the rest of the magic camouflage.

"Don't say a thing until..." Zen began, before the door to the office was loudly opened by the two guards from upstairs. Zen put a hand over his mouth and peeked around the desk, taking care not to show more of his presence than needed. The two alerted Keidran filed in one after the other, the first carrying a lit torch in front of him.

"Hey, Dirk?" the second Keidran addressed his friend. "Not to sound lazy or anything, but why are we searching in here?"

"You can't ever be too careful when it comes to this sort of stuff," the torch-bearer didactically returned, calmly searching the office. "It's bad enough we got intruders, but since we don't know where they are..."

"This place is empty, is my point. They're probably not in here."

"Yeah, you can say that once they jump you in here, alright?"

"Like, where would they possibly be?" the second Keidran skeptically asked. "Behind the desk? Maybe?"

Dirk paced over to the desk and leaned over it, sweeping the torch along the backside. Both fox and wolf froze in place, trying to do a few too many things at once. Watch the torch, try not to get burnt. Don't make any noise until they're gone. Don't move until he's done searching. Any failures would probably kill the both of them. Zen held his breath, waiting for the torch to lift. The inspection was taking only seconds, but Zen felt like he was aging centuries faster.

"Dirk, if they aren't there, they aren't there," the other Keidran moaned. "Let's try the armory, huh?"

Dirk turned his head to his companion. "I feel like there's something up here," he commented, looking around the room again.

"You're stressing this way too much," came the response, and Dirk's arm lifted soon after, the treacherous torch leaving with it. "I told you, nobody in their right mind would be here with that little cover."

"Right," Dirk replied as he marched out the door. "Right."

The two guards followed each other out the door and towards another room. Zen looked around the desk a second time, and noticed that they had failed to shut the door behind them on the way out. He turned back to Blitz with the news.

"They forgot about the door."

"Good," Blitz answered as he moved out from behind his hiding spot and began to sneak towards the opened doorway. Zen followed closely behind, mimicking exactly where he went. If something happened to one of them, they wouldn't be alone.

The two spies reentered the basement's sheer darkness as both noticed the guards at work inspecting a room across from where they were. The good news was they knew exactly where not to go. The bad news was they didn't know where to go. The torch Dirk and his friend were using happened to be the other one Alexei used to light the room initially, and they were smart enough to shut the secret door behind them as well. With it gone, Blitz and Zen had no means to see the staircase leading them out.

But that didn't mean someone else did. Thought speaking was generally harder to hear through the mental link, and Zen tried not to do it when he could avoid it, but it didn't seem he had too much of an option right now. He shut his eyes again and focused back on Clovis, hoping he was done deploying whatever that distraction of his was.

_Clovis, where are you?_  Zen mentally demanded. He waited five seconds for a response. Ten. Fifteen.

" _Sorry there, Zen. I was sending for tea. Did you need me for something?_ "

_Blitz and I are here trying not to get killed and you decide to break for tea?!_  Zen shouted.

" _Well, if you're going to be like that..._ "

_It doesn't matter. We're in the dark and need to get out. Where are the stairs?_

" _Actually, wait there for a moment,_ " Clovis advised. " _I did see them searching the floor, and if I'm correct..._ "

"Nope, they're not in the armory either," Dirk announced.

"Probably further down the hall, then. Let's go," his friend stated as the two guards exited the weapons locker and turned down the narrow side corridor, the glow of the torch diminishing as they increased the distance between them and Zen.

" _Now, ten meters in front, turn right, one meter, right again, up the stairs._ "

"Blitz, I'm right in front of you if you want to grab my shirt," Zen whispered behind him. A small amount of tension accumulated on his back as he stealthily crouched and crept towards the stairwell, as per Clovis' instructions. He started by sneaking forward a medium distance, the tugging of his shirt the signal that Blitz was close behind.

Zen jumped as Clovis' voice suddenly leapt into his mind. " _Right face,_ " he ordered.

_Could you be a bit more quiet on the next one?_  Zen requested as he calmed himself down.

" _Just making sure you know where you're going is all,_ " Clovis pointed out. " _One step forward and you should be at the stairs._ "

Zen held his right arm out and brushed against the rough wooden railing of the staircase. Loosely gripping the pole, Zen pivoted around to directly face the stairs, with Blitz closely behind. They were almost out, and Zen triumphantly took the first step towards freedom...

And stiffly cringed as he discovered the first stair had a sharp, loud  _creak_  in it. Zen kept his foot down, but the dreaded sound echoed bombastically down the hallway where Dirk and his friend were searching. Blitz looked down it as well, and noticed Dirk poke his head out of one of the rooms to the corridor's left.

"The hell was that?" Dirk yelled, waving the torch in front of him again.

"You're really high-strung today, aren't you?" his companion fired back. "Dude, this whole basement is falling apart. Of course there's going to be noise."

"I get the feeling you're not taking this seriously."

"Why would I? Alexei's probably the worst recruit we've had in years. I'm actually glad this happened to him."

"I had no idea you were so sadistic," Dirk remarked as he retreated to the room.

"Only towards people like him," came the response. "'Sides, there might not even be anyone down here. Knowing him, he probably just slipped or something."

"I still think we should finish searching."

"And we are. Now, get back over here and get some light under the bed here."

Zen inaudibly exhaled with relief as he continued up the stairs. Blitz kept to the side of the rickety first to keep it from screaming a second time. Slowly but steadily the duo progressed up the stairs, until Zen finally felt the underside of the door with his forearm. Zen pressed against it gently, as the trap door silently rose up to a passable height.

Unfortunately, the natural light flooding in through the storeroom windows also leaked through the gap Zen had made, and the basement was briefly lit up as a direct result. Blitz instinctually ran up the stairs, ducking his head under the door as he passed. Zen followed closely behind, still holding the door up until he reached the surface. He quickly, gently lowered it back into the floor, the soft  _thump_  of the door falling into place the signal for both Zen and Blitz to breathe again.

" _How in the world did that happen?_ " Clovis asked himself as his agents recovered from their latest venture.

"We're not out yet, boss," Blitz reminded as he quietly turned the handle on the storeroom door, opening it just slightly enough for a peek through it.

" _Well, that too, but those guards had to be some of the laziest I've seen in a while. I'm serious, that was kind of depressing. Might need to send them an apology card._ "

"Blitz, what's it look like?" Zen whispered over to the Polar Fox.

"At least five more of them," he calmly informed, despite his heart racing faster than he ever remembered it before. "How do the windows look?"

"Decorative," Zen replied, disgustedly. "Can't go through them without smashing them."

"Dammit," Blitz sighed as he peeked out the door again, inspecting the flood of guards now on the main floor. Even with Zen's cloaking spell, there was almost no way to get by without catching someone's attention. As much as he didn't want to admit it, they were stuck. "So now what?"

" _Relax, my friends,_ " Clovis calmly, soothingly answered. " _Your solution is on its way now._ "

Blitz opened his mouth for more details until he heard the faint knocking on the house's front door, catching the attention of almost everyone in the main room. The guard closest to the door, a muddy brown-furred wolf, strode over to it and opened it up all the way.

He was met by a crying woman, from what Blitz could discern from the sound. He couldn't risk opening the door any more without giving himself away, so he could only listen to the conversation between the wolf and the unknown visitor.

"Miss, what's going on? What happened?" the guard asked with concern. Blitz was glad to hear not everybody working under The Fang was as abrasive as Alexei was. The girl would have probably been kicked right to the curb if that one was minding the door at the moment, not caring for a second about...

"My-my uncle is missing..." the visitor wept, and Blitz's jaw dropped as he heard the woman's voice, despite his reaction not being visible at all to Zen. That didn't make the girl's identity any less startling, however.

Zen seemed to recognize the voice as well, only his response was a bit more composed. "Blitz, why does she sound so much like...?"

"Because it  _is_  Kayle," Blitz preempted, dazed. "Our Plan B was my niece."

" _To her credit, she is a very convincing actress._ "

"Clovis, what is she doing here?" Blitz softly demanded in as angry a tone as he could manage at that level of volume.

" _Why, she's your distraction, of course,_ " the half-fox pointed out. " _Look outside again and see for yourself._ "

Blitz slid the door open an inch or two more, listening to Kayle literally cry for help. His visible eye went wide as he noticed that Kayle's acting, even if it was a bit overdone in his opinion, succeeded in grabbing the attention of almost every guard in the main room. He opened up the door all of the way out of curiosity. Nobody noticed it, apart from Kayle, who happened to be standing opposite the storeroom from the front door.

"What happened to you uncle?" the wolf from earlier asked kindly.

"He-he just went out for a walk earlier this morning," the vixen sobbed, her rain wear glistening from the storm outside. "It's been six hours now and I..." Kayle collapsed onto her knees, struggling to finish her sentence.

Zen quickly brought himself up next to Blitz and looked around the room. Just like any tavern, numerous tables were spread throughout the area, just high enough for him and Blitz to sneak under by his calculation. He also spied a large window near the front of the building, next to the door. The dog Hurley continued to doze in front of it, and Zen also noticed that the panel directly behind him was cracked slightly for the cool air.

"That window's our out," he pointed at the open panel.

"How long does this spell last, Zen?" Blitz asked, as he noticed his foot flickering its visibility for a split second.

"Not much longer, so we better go." Zen continued to stay close to the floor as he escorted Blitz underneath the sea of tables to their exit. Zen dry swallowed as he took cover under the first. This was arguably just as tense as the scene downstairs if not more so, just due to the extra guards and failing fidelity of the aged spell. Zen gasped as he caught sight of his hand for a moment as he passed from table to table. He couldn't renew the magic without having to get rid of the old one, and he couldn't do that at the risk of being detected.

At least Kayle was giving a noteworthy performance. "I just didn't know where else to go," she continued to cry in front of the guards.

"The police, maybe? City security?" one of the more shrewd guards offered up.

"They refuse to get a search party together until tomorrow," Kayle answered through tears. "And what if he...he's...he's already..."

She paused for effect and then leapt onto the brown-colored wolf for a consoling hug. "Gone!" she bawled, moistening his dark green shirt in the process.

" _You know, on second thought, maybe I could show her a thing or two,_ " Clovis remarked.

"You're not doing another thing with her until we get out of here," Blitz protectively snarled while trying to keep his voice down. The combination didn't mix well.

" _Then on that note, your window is directly ahead._ "

Zen stopped underneath the table closest to Hurley's booth and waited for Blitz to catch up. The large window had multiple sliding panels on it, one for each of the booths bordering it, but they all seemed to be locked, save for Hurley's. Zen considered going for one of the locked windows to avoid waking the dog. After a glance over at the vixen, however, it seemed some of the guards were beginning to lose interest in her over theatrical plea, and discarded the idea.

"I'm not going to like this," Zen mumbled to himself as he crept over to the drunken dog's table. He grabbed the edge with one hand and then swung both up and over it, such that he landed himself on the direct center of the table. He was rewarded with a long, alcoholic snore as Hurley breathed fumes into his face. After a second of waving his hand trying to clear the air, Zen yanked the collar of his shirt over his nose, supposing he should at least be grateful Hurley was still snoozing, as he turned to the window and started to open it.

The window pane was very stubborn in moving, and Zen had to yank on it a few times from beneath before it began sliding up. He glanced over at Kayle as he continued to work on the escape plan.

"Miss, I'm sorry about your uncle, I really am, but you need to calm down first," one of the guards tried to console her.

"You don't get it! He's the only one I have and I don't want to lose him!"

"The only one you have?" another repeated with confusion.

"Yes, he's the only uncle I have," Kayle sniffled. "Do you see why I can't lose him?"

"Jeesh, time to go," Zen grumbled at her faltering acting as he finally managed to get the window acceptably open. He kicked both of his feet through the gap and slid out back into the rainy street, taking cover underneath the window from outside. He waited a few moments, and a  _splash_  of water next to him indicated that Blitz had come outside as well.

Blitz breathed heavily for a few moments as the spell began to expire. "Let's not do that again, okay, mate?" he asked with relief as he began to fade back into view.

"I'll try to avoid it," Zen replied with a now visible grin. He looked back over to the open front door, where Kayle was still trying to hold The Fang's attention.

"Look, come back tomorrow and see us if he doesn't return, alright? I mean, right now..."

"You're no better than the police are!" Kayle snapped. "I'm probably better off just walking out right now and looking for him myself!"

"And I'm saying that, for now, that's not a bad idea."

"Where would I start?" she yelled as she backpedaled out the door and turned towards where Zen and Blitz were sitting down. "It's not like he'll just turn a corner and..."

Kayle's expression quickly morphed from depressed and angry to delighted and excited as she began to sprint down the street in Blitz's direction. "Uncle!" she exuberantly cried, arms outstretched, running at full speed towards him.

Blitz apprehensively put his arms in front of him, hoping to negate some of the impact and hide his face from the guards in the likely chance this blew his cover. He cringed, waiting for the end...

Then felt an unexpected  _whoosh_  of cold wind as Kayle ran right past him and instead tackled a stranger in a white cloak who just popped out of the neighboring alleyway. Both of them fell onto the icy brick together with a  _splash_ , as three of the five guards poked their heads out of the door to figure out exactly what happened. Zen and Blitz were unsure of who or what to focus on: the guards looking their way but not knowing who they were, or Kayle forcing herself on top of what seemed to be just an innocent bystander with a now soiled rain slick.

One of the guards pointed at the wolf and fox sitting against the wall. "Do you two have any idea what just happened?" he inquired, at the lack of anyone better to ask.

"Nope," Zen quickly returned.

"No idea," Blitz promptly replied.

The guard looked back up at Kayle with confused curiosity. "Uncle Charlie, I never thought I'd see you again!" she happily exclaimed, tightly hugging her victim.

"My dear girl, perish the thought!" the stranger gently petted her hair, in a voice Zen immediately recognized. He had to slam both hands over his mouth to keep himself from saying his name in surprise. "I was just out to see the doctor. Nothing to worry about!" He leaned up to look at the two spies directly, crookedly, toothily grinning at Zen in particular.

"I have everything under control," Clovis smirked from under the cloak's hood.


	3. Part III: Colds, Cuts and Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natani and Keith confront Domino and discover his new plan. Zen is caught in the fallout as the relationship between Blitz and Clovis disintegrates. Mike tries to teach himself magic and help Evalyn.

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Part III: Colds, Cuts and Cookies

Chapter 16

"What did you two fools do to my door?"

"Look, I'm sorry. Like,  _really_  sorry, and I'm not even the guy who did it," Mike shakily stammered as he showed Natani back to her room. The wolf carefully navigated the floor, making sure not to step the multiple shattered wooden splinters, scattered throughout the chamber like confetti. Mike was still irked that Evals hadn't managed to at least begin cleaning up the spot between breakfast and now, mid-afternoon, but he also wasn't expecting Natani and Keith to come back to the ship this quickly either.

"Well, thanks for the apology, but you probably could have told me about this earlier, you know!" Natani barked as the fox dug through the room adjacent to hers, another maintenance closet. "I don't know what prompted you to break in here, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't this urgent."

"Uh, right, right," Mike stuttered, power walking back into the room with a dustpan and hand broom. "It was extremely improper of us, and we won't do it again," he rushed as he knelt down and began sweeping some of the wood chippings into the dustpan.

Natani grunted softly as she gave the trunk underneath her bed a solid, two-handed heave and slid it across the floor. A glowing blue seal, stuck onto the side of the trunk where the lock should have been, served to keep it shut and secure. Natani kept all of her belongings secured with a magical lock spell of her own design. It wasn't just a run of the mill, textbook locking spell that could be done away with by anyone who ever thumbed through an elementary spellbook. She had perfected this one over months of study, trial and error, and maybe just a little help from her big brother. Unlike standard locking spells, which were usually bypassed by a simple open command or phrase, Natani's variant used three of them, to be said out loud in a very particular sequence. The words and the order they were spoken in was a combination only her and Zen knew how to crack. And possibly Mike as well if she didn't keep her voice down.

She began reciting the code under her breath. All it was were answers to three simple questions.

How much younger was she compared to Zen?

"Fifteen months, seven days."

Name of their first thieving guild?

"West Street Crew."

First thing she called Keith when they first met?

"Long eared weirdo."

The seal dissipated into nothingness as Natani successfully answered the final question, and the wolf spun the trunk around to face her and lifted it open. She brushed the various clothes and travelling supplies aside until she caught sight of a small burlap pouch, pushed against the left side of the trunk's interior.

"Did you really go through all the crystals I gave you already?" she asked the sailor, befuddled and slightly alarmed at the rate they did so.

Mike inaudibly gulped before responding. "Yeah. We did a bit of experimenting as well. Making sure we knew what we were doing."  _Probably shouldn't have brought that up earlier_ , he reprimanded himself. Good thing he couldn't sweat, because he'd likely be drenched by this point if he could.

"No need to sound guilty. I gave them to you to practice with, and you did that," she commented, peeking into the pouch briefly before tying it back off. "Also, I wouldn't have given that many to you I didn't have a backup supply on hand, so don't worry about it."

Mike shuffled over to the trash bin in the corner of Natani's room and deposited the fragmented wood in it. He was never good at lying, and he was never good at not getting into trouble as a direct result. That was actually, much as he hated to admit it, why he always tried to have Evals around whenever he needed a cover. But switch the roles, where Mike had to make up stories about Evals, and the results were far from ideal.

He could just tell Natani what happened and see what could be done about it. This was likely a relatively simple fix for someone of her skill. What would Evals do, though? Twice now Michelle came by for an unscheduled visit, and twice Evals diverted attention away from her. True, the fox now had an unsavory accident prone reputation as a direct result, but at least Michelle was kept a secret, known only to Evals, Kat and...

Actually, Natani knew about the Na'Rella incident as well. Mike nearly completely forgot about that. He understood the need for his friend's ailment to be kept private, but here he was, with someone who knew about the problem and, seeing as how the Basitin black arts held no influence this time, maybe the wolf would be more useful in finding a solution. Natani didn't really have a reason to talk about this at all either, so realistically, talking to her about Evals wouldn't result in him breaching his gag order, right?

The fox took a deep breath and followed that train of logic. He would have to ease Natani into the situation, though, if he wanted to be taken seriously. "Hey, uh, Natani?" he started. "Remember Michelle, from back on the Na'Rella?"

Natani slowly turned her head towards Mike, then sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. "Where's Evals and what did you do to him?"

Mike blinked, stunned at how perceptive Natani had become. "It'll explain why the mana crystals have been used up already and why I'm also currently cleaning up a door."

"Where is he, Mike?" Natani pressed as she stood up and scooted the trunk back under her bed with her foot.

"He's in his room, taking a nap," Mike answered. "Maybe I should tell you what..."

"When we get there," the wolf interrupted, briskly walking past the fox and turned right down the corridor, her spare mana reserve still in hand.

"Natani!" Mike called after her, dropping the dustpan and setting the broom against the wall. "You need to know how this happened first!"

"Effects first, then cause," Natani dictated, pointing at the third door on her left, Evals' quarters.

"But...why?"

"Sometimes, Mike, a spell is very easy to identify just by looking at what happened to the subject. I don't need to hear the story if I can fix it by inspection."

"That's the thing, though!" Mike insisted, keeping his voice down as the two canines finished approaching the third's room. "You can't tell what it is."

"You can't, but I might," the wolf replied, and motioned with her hand to keep quiet as she carefully lifted the latch to Evals' door and gently pushed it open all the way. True to the fox's word, Evals was indeed enjoying a mid-afternoon nap, lying on his side on a large, white canvas hammock, back towards Natani and front towards the back wall of the room, towards the window. Evals never bothered to disrobe for these intermissions; it was more work to get into something more comfortable than it was just to collapse onto his hammock and get to the main event.

Natani stared at the dog studiously for a moment then looked back down at Mike. "So, what's the problem, again?" she whispered.

"Uh, here," Mike offered, gently clapping his hands at Evals. "Hey, Evals! Roll over, boy! C'mon boy! Roll over!" he quietly coaxed.

Evals began murmuring in his sleep as he subconsciously obeyed the fox's commands. "Only if Imma...ma get..cookie after," he mumbled as he flipped over in the hammock, showing the lupine mage the other side of his body...

Natani's face looked nothing short of stunned, much like Mike's was a little bit earlier. She didn't gasp, yell, or seem to do anything else out of surprise. Instead, she continued to calmly look at the dog, albeit with a bit more confusion and prudency this time. And, after a relatively lengthy silence, she gave her final conclusion. "Huh."

"Yeah, you see what I mean now?" Mike pointed at the dosing Evalyn.

"Changed my mind. How did this happen?" Natani asked, not sure whether to be fascinated by how advanced the spellwork was, frustrated that the two sailors managed to do this to themselves, or interested by the results.

Mike inhaled deeply, and then quickly rattled off the entire chronicle of their magical studies. "Evals found a book and was testing spells out of it. All of it went well until he found one that made Michelle appear. He tried to cover it up, which was why he never let you downstairs to look at my 'broken foot.' He found a way to fix it, but the dispel rebounded and jumped onto him. So..." Mike struggled to finish his thoughts, and instead held two upturned palms in the dog's direction. "Natani, um, meet Evalyn!"

"Hi..hiya, Timmy," Evalyn woofed back, licking the corner of her mouth, halting the saliva flowing into a small pool on the hammock.

"You two do not make my job easy, you know that?" Natani glanced at the fox as she flipped a mana crystal out of her pocket and into the air, like a coin.

"Please don't be angry?" Mike timidly squeaked, putting his hands up in front of his face.

"Why would I be?"

"Eh?" Mike lowered his guard.

"You had me scared earlier. I thought you turned him into a frog or something like that. This...is actually kind of funny," Natani said, grinning slightly.

"I think weird is a better word, to be honest with you," Mike corrected, watching the crystal bounce up and down in the wolf's hand. "So, what do you think?"

"I'm about to figure that out," Natani answered, catching the crystal midair and crushing it in her fist. "Deprendo magia," she spoke into it, then shut her eyes and tossed the sparkling blue dust towards Evalyn, still sleepily snoring away. A couple seconds passed, and Natani's view came back up with an amorphous grey blob where the dog should have been. She hummed quietly to herself and opened her eyes again, which flashed yellow for a split second as her detection vision disappeared.

"That's no good," she spoke out loud as she detached her backup mana reserve and shook out some more crystals into her hand.

"Is Evals alright?" Mike asked with concern. "It's not permanent, right?"

"Permanent magic isn't a thing, and it will wear off given enough time," Natani explained, carefully counting off the stack of mana she was currently holding. "Pretty much, you've bounced so many spells off of him that, whatever...that is, it doesn't have a definite magic school to it. So I can't just do a simple dispel and expect it to work without consequence."

"Can you explain it like I'm five?" Mike requested, lost in the jungle of technical speak and science that just bombarded him.

"I'm casting a mass dispel, Mike. It'll go through a lot of my spare mana, but it's potent enough to get rid of almost anything. And it should fix Evals."

Mike nodded, and curiously looked at exactly how much "a lot of mana" was. The cone-shaped stack in Natani's hand was at least an inch high and two inches in diameter, a very large pile considering how small normal mana crystals tended to be. "I can get you some more of those when we get to wolf country if you like," he offered. "I should at least pay you for..."

"Nah, it's fine," Natani put a hand up. "You can get a kilo of these things for, like, twenty silver if you know where to look. Dirt cheap."

Mike shamefully gulped, though he wasn't really sure why. "Thanks. For doing this, of course."

"Let's just get this little problem fixed and done with," Natani responded, as she shut her eyes again to begin focusing on the spell. Mike glanced back at the snoozing dog momentarily, glad to hear he'd be back to his normal self soon, and then interestedly back at the increasingly luminescent blue mass the wolf held in her hand. A small, thin wisp of what Mike could only describe as magical smoke began to drift upwards out of the pile, as the wolf made the necessary mental and magical preparations. The smoke started to accumulate into a sphere about six inches above the top of the stack, and Natani raised her other hand, set to finish the cast...

Then her eyes jumped open abruptly, unexpectedly, and the wisp sank back down into the mana crystals. "What is it, Zen?" she asked out loud.

Mike's ears drooped as he turned his head to the side. "Um, Natani?"

"This really isn't a great time for this," she barked back with annoyance. Her left ear perked, as if she was listening for something, and her expression shifted from annoyance to surprise after a moment. "Why didn't you say that, then?" she exclaimed as she jammed the mana crystals back into her pouch and marched towards the stairs to A Deck.

"Natani, what just happened?" Mike called after her, chasing her down the hallway. "What about Evals?"

"Something urgent just came up, so Evals is going to have to wait," she instructed as she began to jog up the steps, the fox following closely behind her.

"Slow down!" Mike yelled. "You were casting, then you started talking to yourself, and now you have somewhere you have to be? Just like that?"

"I wouldn't ignore your friend like this if it wasn't completely necessary," Natani assured, thrusting open the window onto the Quantum's main deck then making a sharp right turn to the docks. "Just keep him, or her, comfortable for now until I get back, alright?"

"We cast off tomorrow morning!" Mike continued to protest as the wolf continued into the shipyard. The fox halted himself on the deck, lacking the proper credentials to set foot on the island. "If we can't do it now, then..."

"I'll be back before it gets dark, Mike. Calm down before you have a heart attack," Natani responded over her shoulder, still briskly walking towards wherever she was headed. She did, however, stop for a moment and pointed at the wooden banister bordering the main deck. "Oh yeah, someone left you a package too," she noted, directing Mike's attention to a medium-sized brown paper bag parked against the railing. It was folded over the top, likely to keep its contents fresh, and also had a small note pinned next to the bag's opening.

Mike walked over to inspect the bag as the wolf continued to hurry along the docks, as if she had just stolen something and was trying to escape and not be noticed at the same time. He sighed softly and scooped the bag up in his arms, yanking the note free with his right hand. The writing was sloppy at best, and the fox did have to squint to read a few sections, but the message seemed simple enough:

_Mr. Orangetail!_

_Here's the herbs you wanted! Got as many of them as I could. I also found a few grams of clearveil as well. If anyone seems stressed or annoyed, the herbalist says mixing that in with tea will help a ton! Thanks for letting me see the ship!_

_Maddie_

"Stress relief, huh?" he said to himself as he folded the note and neatly slipped it into his back pocket. He heard a low rumbling sound come from beneath him, and he looked down at where his feet were. From a top-down perspective, he was standing right above Evals' quarters. Likely his friend was still dosing, but would be awake and active in a few more minutes. Even if his...affliction was not cured by that point.

Mike strode over to the door leading below deck and kicked it open with the back of his foot. "Gods know we'll be needing them soon," he mumbled as he descended back towards the galley, the door gently shutting itself behind him.

* * *

 

"So your brother knows who Domino is now?" Blitz asked, flipping his signature knife in his hand as always.

"Just finished talking to him. He does now," Zen responded, boldly striding down the upper hallway of Clovis' manor with the Polar Fox. "How's Clovis been doing?"

"He's still working on poking through that packet you found. He's been a little reclusive since too, come to think of it."

"Clovis being reclusive, how insightful you are today."

"More than usual, mate. You know what I'm trying to say."

"What's eating him?"

"Didn't ask. Wasn't really my place," Blitz replied as finished escorting Zen to the large, ornate doors leading to the half-fox's office. Shut tight, as per usual, with two muscular bodyguards standing on either side of the doorway. Longswords were fastened securely to the right side of their belts, and they also wore Clovis' signet on their left middle finger, symbolizing not only their loyalty but also providing a source of mana should it be needed.

"Hopefully he'll be willing to talk to us," Blitz continued as he stopped in front of the two bouncers. Zen followed suit, slipping his hands behind his back.

"Who's 'us'?" the guard on the left asked, sternly. An Arctic Wolf, much like Alexei from earlier. Clovis tried to keep his followers diverse as far as the Keidran tribes were concerned. He found that it displayed a sort of amiability towards his kind, an openness of sorts, that he was willing to help anyone, as long as he was properly reciprocated afterwards.

"Zen and Blitz, mate," the fox answered, clicking the knife shut and pocketing it in his trousers. "And yes, we have an appointment."

The guard pressed against his forehead and relayed the visitors to his charge. "Sir, they're here," he stated, and then nodded as the half-fox mentally transmitted his acknowledgement. The guard snapped his hand down and leaned over to open up the door to the office.

"He's a bit ill at present, so play nicely in there," he advised as he turned the brass knob and pushed open the oak just wide enough for the two agents to slip through. Zen was the first to pass, and noticed almost immediately what the guard meant. Instead of the normal glass of wine he almost always had with him during office hours, Clovis had settled for something warmer, more specifically a tall mug of what seemed to be chicken broth. The wolf also noticed the spymaster keeping his handkerchief within arm's reach, generally something he didn't have too much need for, nor had with him on a regular basis.

"Ah, Zen, do..." Clovis started to welcome, but stopped himself to yank his handkerchief over to him and sneeze into it, producing a relatively noisy  _choof_  sound in the process. A small sniffle later he managed to finish his thought. "...do come in."

"What happened to you?" Blitz inquired as he closed the office's doors behind him.

"I dare say that your niece gave me..." Clovis paused again to  _choof_  into his handkerchief a second time. "...gave me a rather nasty cold after tackling me into that puddle. I've been trying to recover ever since." He tapped at the stack of lifted papers in front of him. "At least I have some reading material in the meantime."

"Natani knows about Domino..." Zen began.

"...and she's aware of what we found. I heard the whole exchange, thank you," Clovis finished. Zen leered at the half-fox, who seemed blissfully oblivious to the idea that eavesdropping was considered rude in most circles. "What is she up to, now that she knows what we do?"

"Don't know. He hung up before I could ask," Zen replied, trying not to trip over his "brother's" gender identity as he spoke. "I'll try getting a hold of him later tonight."

"Very well," Clovis nodded, crookedly, painfully smiling through his sickness. "So, now that we're in here, how about we go through our little treasure in more detail?" he suggested, gently patting the stack of papers like it was a housecat.

"What have you gone through so far?" Blitz asked as Clovis began to separate the papers into three, relatively equivalent divisions.

"That's what you're here for, as a matter of fact," the half-fox stated as he handed one of the smaller stacks to Zen. "I've went ahead and looked through the first few pages, and I have a decent idea of what The Fang's up to, but I think this will go much faster if we, as the Humans put it, divide and conquer?"

"Suppose it works," Blitz agreed as he accepted one of the other stacks from Clovis and started to flip through it.

"Let's do it then." Zen encouraged as he perused his sections. "So, Clovis, what are they doing today?"

"It's just like we thought, gents," Clovis sat back in his chair, beaming with pride, scanning the pages in his hand. "The Fang's trying to use our little scuffle with the Humans to ramp up a worldwide war, and they intend to be the ones supplying it. They sent in Domino to pose as one of the Basitins on General Keiser's hearing board, and ideally try to brush him aside in favor of a more...volatile response."

"Didn't do too well, seeing as how we managed to get a reprieve out of it," Blitz pointed out.

"And thus we arrive at one of the most peculiar points of this plan," Clovis observed, looking back up at his agents. "There doesn't seem to be a fallback if The Fang doesn't get the result they wanted. From the first few pages anyways."

"What do you mean?" Zen asked, unfolding a larger, detailed map of the Basitin Parliament.

"The Fang's goal seems to hinge entirely on them instigating a war and then supplying it. But, hypothetically of course, had your General friend succeeded, then the Basitins don't get involved, and then they send him right back in to break up our little scuffle with the Humans. No war, no supplies, no profits."

Blitz looked up from the meeting agenda in his stack, back at the spymaster, the skepticism in his gaze abounding. "That is a pretty big flaw in the plan there, boss."

"Which is why..." Clovis moved for his handkerchief again, thinking another sneeze was imminent, then put his hand back down once the sensation ceased. "...why I am amazed that this got  _choof_!" he sneezed, burying his muzzle into his elbow.

"Overlooked! Blast it all, I  _hate_  colds!" the half-fox loudly snapped, reaching for his mug with annoyance.

Zen and Blitz looked at each other like they had provoked a wild animal, then turned back to the spymaster. "Is there a better time we should be doing this, boss?" Blitz carefully asked, as Zen returned to his papers.

"No," a disgruntled Clovis asserted with a small sip out of his mug. "If you're healthy enough to work, so am I." He pointed at the two stacks of papers his agents were currently perusing.

"Now, as I was saying, unless there's something in your piles I haven't seen yet, then I'd argue, as strange as this sounds, we've successfully upended their plans."

"Except we haven't," Zen spoke with realization as he shuffled his papers around. "Not yet at least."

Clovis' ears perked, and Blitz walked over to Zen to better look at the documents he held. Zen spilled the first couple papers on top of the half-fox's desk, like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, and pushed them around, trying to keep his thoughts organized.

"I take it you found their backup, Zenny?" Clovis grinned, sitting back up in his chair and setting his mug back down.

"Not directly, but it's hard to avoid the conclusions," the wolf said, tapping the leftmost document: another floor plan for the Basitin parliament building. "First, the Parliament. This map is for the basement of it."

"Since when do government buildings need basements?" Blitz itched the back of his head.

"Multipurpose rooms, and the Basitins use this one for structural integrity too. Their Parliament is a huge, heavy building, so they needed a little underground support to keep it up. That's what all these pillars are scattered around for," Zen explained, motioning to the three by two array of pillars placed in the basement's main chamber. "Bring down most if not all of these, and the entire structure..."

"Goes up in dust," Clovis finished, making a gesture reminiscent of an explosion with his hand.

"You're thinking Domino is going to try attacking the building itself?" Blitz inquired, looking over the map for himself.

"There's no reason he couldn't," Zen continued to deduce. "Makes a statement, gets the people angry, and pretty much forces the Basitins to make a move."

"Nicely played, Mr. Domino," Clovis said to himself, tapping his fingers together with excitement. "Although, there's no way he'll feasibly take down those pillars just by himself."

"Which is why he had this on the packing list," Zen pointed at the rightmost document. This one had no pictures or drawings on it. Instead, it looked more like a recipe, with a list of components at the top followed by a set of instructions below.

"Take a look at those ingredients," Zen encouraged.

Blitz picked up the paper and read a few of them out loud for the half-fox. "Sulfur, potassium chloride, peroxy...chemical something something, to hell if I'm pronouncing that," he defeatedly grumbled as he handed the recipe over to Clovis.

"Oh, this is di _vine_ ," Clovis clapped his hands together before accepting the paper, chuckling slightly as he spoke.

"Zen, all that looked like was a glorified science experiment. What's it really for?" Blitz inquired, paying no mind to the relatively sporadic reaction Clovis just gave.

"I'll answer that one," Clovis smirked with unadulterated glee, picking up his white ceramic mug and taking another sip out of it. "Everything on this list happens to be explosive."

Blitz and Zen looked at each other for a moment, one expecting the other to either ask a question or continue explaining. Blitz volunteered to continue moving the conversation along. "How explosive are we talking?"

Clovis crookedly grinned again as he set his beverage back down on the desk. "With the masses given here, explosive enough to, say, dislodge a certain structural support out from underneath a certain government building?" he crooned.

Blitz glanced back at the wolf, an eyebrow raised. "The Fang's making a bomb, aren't they?"

"And if it isn't made already, it will be shortly," Zen affirmed.

Blitz sighed to himself and, almost sorrowfully, glanced back at the half-fox, who was distressingly calm despite just discovering a bomb threat. "Boss, is it just me or is this job getting more and more dangerous by the second?"

"Come now. You say that like it's a bad thing," Clovis responded, leaning back in his chair again.

"I mean, think about this for a second. In less than a day, we found out that this group of mercenaries, which is actually a group of war profiteers, is actually now, by definition, a group of terrorists."

"Yes, so it would seem,"

The fox had to stop himself, mostly out of confusion as to how Clovis could be so at ease about what they found. "Boss, everything in this room now is sensitive. As soon as they find out this..." Blitz rapidly pounded on his packet with a clenched fist. "...is missing, they're going to start looking for us. And for that Basitin. We're not prepared to deal with an entire army, and I don't think he'll be either. This needs to be secured, and that means it has to be reported."

"You're panicking," Clovis monotonously responded, arms folded in front of him. "We'll be able to handle this just fine."

"If I may, I think you're taking this a little too fine."

"Because we already know what to do from here," Clovis replied. "Use this intel for us, make it a jumping off point for our next set of activities."

"And what if we get attacked?" Blitz looked like he was starting to lose it, and Zen instinctually took a step backwards.

"Then we get attacked," the half-fox answered, calmly and methodically. "We've handled these sorts of offensives before. We can certainly do it again."

"But not against an entire militarized mercenary corps with weapons nobody's even seen yet!"

"Rather it be them than the police, frankly."

Blitz lost his words for a second, and ended up just making random noises for a while as his hands twitched and contorted like he was sitting in an electric chair. He let out a puff of air to relax himself, even if it was just enough to enable basic speech again, and yanked his facemask down in a fit of frustration. "Did I miss something here?" he yelled at his employer, angrily leaning on the desk with both hands. "Clovis, this is not a game! This isn't one of your 'puzzles' anymore. We're talking about somebody threatening to explode a building! People are going to die and this whole op is going to hell if we don't tell someone about this!"

Clovis said nothing in response, and instead slowly stood up and raised his hands. "Alright. I understand. You win," he whispered, mollified anger seasoning his words like hot spice. The spymaster's visage remained neutral, save for the eyes. There was something about that glare he was exchanging with Blitz, and Zen couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Clovis motioned to his chair, regally presenting it to the fox as if he were royalty. "Why don't you take the lead for this job, then?"

"Clovis, hold on..." Zen tried to interrupt.

"No, no, it's fine," Clovis reassured, expressionlessly. "Apparently our Polar Fox here is displeased with my decision to stay quiet, and for that, I must step down."

"Screw you," Blitz snarled, reaching for his trouser pocket.

"Tell me, Blitz, what's your first act as head of our little company going to be, hmm?" Clovis seethed, pacing around the desk to approach his agent. "Oh, silly me, the intel. Of course, it must be the intel! Yes, absolutely, we need to tell someone, don't we? Now who to tell, who to tell...?"

"Clovis, you need to calm down," Zen commanded.

"How about the watch? That's a start; alert the authorities, set up a quarantine...oh, wait. No, no, no that's no good. We're technically criminals aren't we? They'll have us in prison before they listen to anything involving their  _favorite_  suppliers, won't they? What else, what else?" he pondered, closing the distance towards Blitz. "Ooh, another ring, possibly. Get reinforcements, prepare for a fight. Oh, no, that's not a thing either, since they'll be next right after we get stamped. Well..." Then Clovis started laughing. Inexplicably, maniacally, uncontrollably laughing, as Blitz continued to defiantly stare back. "Well, this is certainly a problem isn't it?" he yelled at the fox. "This intel is practically virulent by this stage! We can't share it without making our position worse off now, can we?"

Zen saw Blitz flip the knife open behind his back, and his eyes went wide. "Clovis! Back down!" he interjected.

"Do you get it yet, Blitz? You didn't 'miss' anything. I didn't jump ahead, leave you behind, or anything of the sort. You simply need to accept the fact that we, in this office, are the only ones who do know, can know, and will ever know, what's on those papers," Clovis pointed a shaking, adrenaline-fueled hand in the direction of the lifted intelligence.

"But please, don't let this...filthy blooded amalgamation of a Keidran let you dictate what ought to be done. By no means!" the half-fox continued to rant. "Please, take a seat and impart on us your wise, wise words, for you clearly know what's best for everyone, don't you?"

Clovis finished talking for a bit, but then leaned forward, placing his muzzle just next to Blitz's right ear.

"Or perhaps, it's just what's best for you?" he whispered.

Zen sharply inhaled as the next few moments of his life seemed to jump into slow motion. It started with Blitz extending his arm outward and beginning to swing the knife towards Clovis, the blade on a direct path towards the spymaster's rib cage. Instinctually, Zen bolted to his right, and then grabbed the mana necklace tucked underneath his shirt. The short range teleportation spell that he used on a very frequent basis fortunately did not require a word of power to invoke, and he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke as he drew the power out of one of the crystals. He reappeared a split second later next to Clovis, and using the momentum he had generated from running earlier, leapt onto Clovis and tackled him to the ground, Blitz's swing whirring harmlessly over their heads.

Clovis and Zen crashed onto the hardwood flooring with a hearty  _thump_  as they fell on their sides next to the desk. It took Blitz a moment to realize what had happened, and once he noticed that his wild attack hit only the air, he took one step to where Zen and Clovis lay. He flipped the knife's casing again, tossed into his left hand, knelt down. Clovis' eyes blankly, disinterestedly followed the blade, dancing in the fox's hand, then ascending for a final strike...

And then, instead of the anticipated pang he would have felt in his abdomen, he was greeted by the sharp  _cling_  of a parry. More specifically, Zen's wrist blade had brushed away what would have been a very devastating strike, and was currently lodged just underneath the other knife's casing. Blitz continued to press with his weapon, as did Zen with his, trying to shove the attack away from Clovis. Zen reinforced the bracer by grabbing his knife hand near the wrist, using his other arm to produce the additional power. It worked, as Blitz's blade slipped off of Zen's and instead stabbed the wooden floor next to Clovis' head, no more than a few centimeters in front of the eyes and just a hair above the muzzle.

Save for the Polar Fox's heavy breathing, and the pitter patter of the rain as it pelted the room's single stained glass window, the office went quiet again after the struggle. There was something off about it, Zen felt. Blitz didn't sound like he was trying to calm himself down, but rather he was trying to keep himself from breaking down instead. The knife wobbled back and forth next to Clovis' head as well, the fox holding it hard enough to dig his shortly trimmed claws into his hand.

He relinquished the knife, the case clacking onto the ground, and slowly pulled back the cloth eye patches. Zen was about to shut his eyes, but noticed that the gem housed in there was not glowing like it should have been. Blitz was not about to use it.

"Don't ever say I only look out for myself," he softly grumbled, tapping his face underneath the gem. "I wouldn't have a damn rock in my skull right now if I did."

"Yes," Clovis responded, his gaze shifting up from the knife and back to Blitz. "Then you also know about sacrifice, and why I have to make this decision."

"I do," Blitz growled back. "Sacrifice is all about choice. I  _chose_  to stick with you even after my eye got shot out, and I  _chose_  to keep running jobs for you even though I have my own family to worry about. I know a lot about it." Blitz slowly put his hand around his black bandana, the bandana Zen had never seen him without so far, and sharply yanked on it, undoing the knot around his neck and coming free.

Blitz stared at the garment for a second, then tossed it down onto the floor, letting the cloth drift down and finally stop next to the knife, partially covering it. "Well, I'm sorry, boss. But this time, I'm not choosing you."

"Blitz..." Zen started to say, sitting himself back up.

The fox immediately cut him off. "Zen, by keeping that intel a secret, we're putting thousands of innocent lives at risk just so Clovis can keep this little spy ring of his secret." He stood up and began walking towards the office doors.

"There's more to it than that..." Zen tried to argue as Blitz continued to pace away.

"Don't care if there is," Blitz flatly continued. "If he's going through with a plan that ends up killing civilians, then I'm not going to be one of people he drags down with him. Getting my hands dirty is one thing, but I refuse to let these people die through my own indifference."

Blitz turned the knob on the office door again, opening it back up to the hallway. He turned his head, melancholically, towards back to the wolf. "And what about you?" he asked, quietly, gravelly.

Zen didn't have an answer. He couldn't even begin to formulate one. His mouth remained shut, despite his brain's desperate attempts to get it to move, as he simply looked back and forth between Clovis, the only one who could do anything about what was happening, and Blitz, the only friend he ever made during his time here.

Blitz pitifully shut his good eye in disappointment, and used his other hand to cover up the gem embedded where the other should have been. "It was good knowing you, Zen," was his last sentence as he exited the spymaster's office, as Zen collapsed back onto the floor, feeling like crying for the first time in years.

* * *

 

Chapter 17

Keith's room in the palace didn't look too dissimilar to Natani's, and in fact one could be forgiven for confusing the rooms' interiors, as they were designed to be practically identical. A large bed, three narrow windows overlooking the main part of the island and the harbor, a large trunk for storage and two well-sized dressers pushed against the back wall. The general's room was also outfitted with a small meeting table, likely since King Adelaide figured that Keith might need it given his position and contacts. It wasn't anything too special: simply a small round wooden table, painted white and outfitted with two chairs and placed next to the three windows. In his honest opinion, it looked like it was tossed into the room at the last moment, like he could have exchanged rooms with Natani, taken the table with him and nobody would have been the wiser. But it served its purpose as a meeting spot, and that was all he really cared about at the moment.

The Basitin was currently sitting in one of the chairs, leaning in it such that the front two legs were off the ground and his long, slender tail could provide additional support. He tried to dress nicely, though not nearly as formally as he had to for yesterday's audience. Instead of his full, black and red military uniform, he went with something that had a little more importance to him: his father's old battle uniform. It was hard for Keith to formulate a simple opinion about it. The memories contained in the faded, deep aquamarine outfit and scratched, polished steel shoulder piece ranged from happy to sad, angry to relaxed, romantic to nostalgic, and a myriad of other spectrums Keith couldn't begin to properly label. His father was an old Arms General when Keith was born, and was arguably the most prolific one to date. He was an honorable and sincere man, and despite his flaws, he was revered by almost everybody on the island, both Eastern and Western halves.

Keith glanced over at the missing piece of the outfit, the tinny, one piece helmet that hung on his bed's corner post. He considered putting it on for a minute or two, just to fully immerse himself in his past exploits on the main continent, but then decided against it. He actually was expecting company to be arriving soon, and, given the subject matter, the last thing he wanted to do was come off as unprepared, uninterested or anything of the sort. Though he did make a small mental note to slip "Old Buckety" back on at some point and reflect for a few moments.

The knock finally came from one of the sergeants stationed outside his room, and the door squeaked open as the guard spoke through it. "General Keiser?"

"Has he arrived yet?" Keith asked back.

"He's right here, sir," the sergeant responded, and in walked the abrasive councilor from yesterday. The war hawk, as Keith called him now. The imposter. To his credit, his acting was very nice, and had he not set up that recording crystal that tipped off Sythe he probably would have gotten away with it too. It was well played, but not well concealed, and Keith had requested this meeting to say exactly that.

"Afternoon, General," the visitor greeted, coldly, like this meeting was a major inconvenience to something.

Keith nodded back and raised his voice for the guard again. "Sergeant, seal the room. Anything you hear from here until he leaves is top secret. Direct orders." The last part was important; Basitins, especially the Eastern ones, followed a biological compulsion to follow orders from higher authority. This ensured that the meeting's privacy would not be breached.

"Yes, sir," the sergeant responded, closing the door behind the councilor, leaving only him and Keith in the room.

The visitor waited for the  _click_  of the lock before he began speaking. "Now what's all this about, sir?" he grouchily asked, crossing his arms.

"First thing you can do is drop that illusion you're wearing," Keith ordered, letting the first two legs of his chair drop back to the ground.

The councilor blinked in annoyed confusion. "Sorry, sir?"

"We both know you have one on, and I'd like for this to be as open as possible," Keith elaborated, not taking his eyes off of the councilor for a moment. "Go ahead. Nobody but me will know who you are."

The visitor scowled at Keith, but then bowed his head and smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "How'd you figure it out?" he said as he removed the ring on his right hand, a dim green glow abounding in the center stone.

"Natani. He fired off a detection spell while you were talking with Sythe yesterday," Keith explained as the other Basitin started to draw power out of the ring. "It's a shame I can't use magic. It sounds really useful."

"So I can safely assume that..." the councilor started to say, pointing towards the room's walls.

"Nobody's watching or listening right now," Keith responded, blankly yet calmingly.

"Good," the visitor replied as he finished the incantation. The Basitin began to dissolve away from the feet up as his fur changed complexion from a flat grey to a thick, patterned black and white. The long tail was truncated slightly and became significantly bushier, fully fading into black save for the white tip. The dank, brown eyes also gave way to a bright grey, similar in hue to Natani's, or at least one of them. His proportions didn't change much as far as his middle-range height and slender physique were concerned, so his current wardrobe, an informal short-sleeved forest green shirt and brown pants, didn't have many problems adapting to his actual self.

The visitor sighed with relief as his true form finally worked its way through the illusionary disguise. Keith felt relatively confident in saying that this was yet another Forest Wolf before him, though he had to admit that he was not entirely convinced, seeing as how almost every one he had met beforehand was some shade of brown or grey. He disregarded it, though, and let the Keidran finish doing away with the illusion.

"That's better," the wolf said in a more natural, even tone that would have come off as rather soothing had it been under different circumstances. He strode over to the other chair and stopped to bow reverently before his host. "We were never properly introduced, I don't think."

"No, and yet you seem to know who I am," Keith observed, shifting his posture and leaning on the table with his elbows.

"Everyone knows who you are, General Keiser," the wolf responded, spinning the chair a half revolution and then sitting down, his arms resting on what was supposed to be the support for his back. "Son of the late great Cornelius Keiser, first Ambassador General to the Basidian Isles in its history, you uprooted a Templar plan that could have ruined the Basitin race as we know it. I mean, come on, man," he toothily grinned. "That's a pretty shiny resume, if I may say so."

"That'd be a little more meaningful if I knew who you were," Keith indifferently said back, flattery aside.

"Domino, General," the Keidran answered. "I lead up a little group of mercs called The Fang. Heard of us?"

"First time I have."

"Oh, brother, have you been missing out," Domino shook his head, talking like him and Keith were old friends. "We do everything. Actually, you know what? Imma write to a smithy friend of mine once we're done here. See if he can't do you more justice than that..." Domino waved a hand in front of him, trying to motion towards Keith's apparel while also trying to hold back a laugh. "...whatever you call that mess, right?"

"That's my dad's armor, thank you," Keith defended, eyes narrowing. Not out of distaste for Domino, though that would have been an equally valid reason given his mannerisms. This was for concentration. The wolf was trying to get into his head, disorient him, push an agenda of some sort. Keith wasn't going to allow it, not today. Familial insults were a common tactic when dealing with these types of people, since they tended to be particularly antagonizing. The solution was not to linger on it, and Keith stopped paying it mind soon after.

"Ah, gotcha," Domino clicked his tongue, snapping his fingers and pointing at Keith. "Sentimental value. I hear you. Still, let me give my man..."

"Why were you at the hearing and why were you so bent on trying to get us involved?" Keith directed, trying to stop the wolf from wasting any more time than he already had.

"Jeesh, General, you always this serious?" Domino raised an eyebrow. "I mean, all work and no play and all that."

Keith didn't justify that question with a response, and instead let Domino restart the talk. He finally did after another small grin. "I'm a businessman, General. I deal in weapons and soldiers, and make some pretty nice money for my efforts."

"You're avoiding my question," Keith interrupted. Maybe the secret to talking to this Keidran was to keep him on topic.

"Here's some trivia for you," Domino continued, like Keith never said a thing. "The Forest Wolves have one of the largest Keidran armies in the world. My people have been supplying them with over two-fifths of their military supplies for the past five years. You want to know why that is?"

"I'll humor you and say yes," Keith sighed.

"Contrary to those lies the Templars spit out on a regular basis, us Forest Wolves are not 'war hungry' or anything like that. We're aggressive, sure, but we don't pick fights without a reason. That's why we've been ahead of the pack for so long; our stuff's never had a chance to be used."

The wolf looked up at the ceiling for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "So when we see something like what's happening between us and the Humans, it's in our interests to see if we can't..." Domino paused and put a hand to his jaw, thinking on how he could finish his thought. "... _catalyze_ the process."

"You're trying to start a war, aren't you?"

"No. We're not starting a war, General. Because it's already been started. That's what the Humans did when they started sending in Templars to burn villages and kill families," Domino clarified. Keith noticed that he had stopped smiling when he asked that question, and his visage had become palpably more grave. "We are simply providing the tools to end it."

"Why would the Basitins support the Forest Wolves after I get attacked by a hit squad they sent?"

"Never said they would," Domino replied, renewing that familiar, smug smirk. "And sorry about that, by the way. No hard feelings, right?"

"If we aligned with the Humans, the Forest Wolves would be annihilated. I think you know that, too," Keith pointed out, the wolf's lack of care reaching distressing levels.

"Well, it'd be nice if the home team won, sure. But it's all about economics. More war, more weapons, more soldiers," Domino nodded and clicked his tongue again at Keith, rubbing his fingers together. "Yeah, I think you know where I'm going with this."

"You're insane," Keith finally spat out his thoughts. He normally would have saved such opinion for when he was alone, but this time his emotions got the better of him slightly.

"Wrong again," Domino crooned. "I'm not insane. Insane people aren't nearly as successful as I am."

"If you can count that verdict a 'success,'" Keith countered. "Sorry to hear that your war's been put off to next month."

"I'd say it could've gone worse, actually," Domino returned with another smirk. "For both of us. And so, here we are. Two great minds battling and yet lacking the means to defeat the other. It's beautiful, if you're into that kind of thing."

Keith glared back at Domino, and leaned forward on the table more than he already was. He would have likely toppled it had he pressed on it any harder. "You know I'm not going to let you do this," he threateningly rumbled at his adversary.

"Except that you don't really have a choice at the moment, do you?" Domino replied, resting his head on his fist. "What can you possibly bag me for right now? Impersonating a government official? I just slip the disguise back on and nobody's around to take it off. I know you, General Keiser. You'd love to arrest me right here and now, but we both know you don't have a lick of evidence against me, and don't have any way to get it." Then his ears jumped up almost immediately after he said that. "Save for your friend, though. What's his name, Nathaniel or something along those lines..."

"What does Natani have to do with any of this?" Keith snapped back.

"There we go, Natani," Domino pointed at Keith again as he repeated the name. "And nothing, General. I've no interest in him. For now at least."

Keith's glare intensified once more, as the mercenary stood up from his chair. "So, assuming that we're done here, and it sounds like we are, I think I need to take care of a couple things around the parliament. If you'd excuse me, sir," he politely requested as he invoked the power of his ring, preparing his Basitin disguise again. Keith continued to stare past the chair and towards the back wall, as if Domino never stood up.

Domino gave Keith a curious glance as he finished the incantation and the magic got to work. "I must have hit a nerve with that last sentence," he noted as his fur receded back to the light, monochrome grey from when the meeting began.

Keith turned his head back to the slowly changing wolf. "I can accept you wanting to set the world on fire, Domino. I can accept the fact I'll have to fight you in order keep my people out of this conflict." The Basitin stood up and slowly paced over to his counterpart, the blank yellow-eyed leer intensifying by the second. "But this is solely between you and me. Nobody else. You are going to leave Natani out of this."

Domino flashed a toothy, diabolical grin in response, as the disguising magic finished concealing him. "Uh oh, someone's getting protective," he melodically responded. "I already told you, he's not important to me," he repeated, then turned back for the door. He made a few paces towards it, then stopped himself and turned around, a finger in the air.

"Though, I will say this about my plans," Domino clarified, the smile still plastered on his face like it had been painted on somehow. "From what I've heard, you seem to be under the delusion that I only have one version of them."

Keith's eyes went wide for a change, and blinked at the wolf in Basitin's clothing. "What are you saying?" he coldly asked, trying not to appear any more concerned than he had to.

"Oh, dear. You seriously thought that tripping me up at the hearing was going to be the end of this, didn't you?" Domino pitifully asked, shutting his eyes and shaking his head disappointedly as he turned back for the door.

"What are you going to do?" Keith demanded, composure quickly disintegrating into terrorized panic, his usually calm and impartial demeanor starting to fail him.

"During my time here, I noticed that all of you Basitins love your laws," Domino continued, knocking on the doors to signal the end of the meeting. "Seriously, there's one for almost everything with you: decency, curfew, living areas. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out your laws had laws!"

The  _click_ ing lock retracted and the sergeant pushed open the door for Domino to exit. The disguised wolf continued to look at Keith, surreptitiously, as he started through the doorway, and then finished his thought once he was about halfway through.

"If there's one thing you people need more than anything right now, it's a good dose of chaos," Domino smirked at the general. "And I'm thinking I'm just the man for the job." He respectfully nodded at Keith one final time, before entering the hallway and permitting the sergeant to let the door slide shut.

* * *

 

Domino waltzed out of the palace's front doors and started dancing downhill across the tan gravel walkway, towards the Parliament. Well, maybe he couldn't be as enthused as he wanted to be without breaking character and drawing attention, but that didn't mean he couldn't celebrate a little bit on the inside. That little meeting with General Keiser went splendidly. His cover wasn't blown, since almost nobody on the island could ever see through his disguise. He could get away with practically anything, since almost nobody would ever suspect him. And, perhaps most importantly, he could set the entirety of his Plan B into motion, since nobody would ever notice him doing so.

Which was the main reason why he was trekking back to his quarters in the Upper Residential District with all due haste. There was no time to lose now. Almost everything was ready: he just had finish the recipe, divide it up, set the fuses, transport them down to the basement of Parliament, then run like a maniac and watch the fireworks. He passed through the main exterior gates of the palatial courtyard, turned his head to make sure the watch was not watching him, then jumped for joy, tapping his heels together in midair. Then quickly jammed his hands back into his pockets and continued to casually stroll down the walkway, like nothing had ever happened.

Domino did not consider himself, by dictionary standards, evil. He just knew what he wanted, and was taking the steps necessary to obtain it. Standard business practice, the foundation for everything he did in life. The Wolves and Humans having a scuffle? The Fang a bit strapped for cash coming into the early middle of summer? Ramp it up into a full-scale fight and become the official sponsor for it. Phase two follows from phase one, and as soon as Domino managed to get everyone he could behind the war banner, then all he had to do was sit back, maybe open up a bottle of beer and cook off a bratwurst and enjoy the show.

The Parliament building came up on his right, and Domino slowed his pace to about half speed. The Basitins may have been law bound zealots who couldn't light a match without breaking some sort of code, but if they did one thing well, they knew how to make things look nice. Case in point, the Parliamentary Botanical Garden. Domino had only been to the interior courtyard a few times during his stay here, but he loved coming by whenever he could. Maybe a celebratory promenade through there was in order. Yes, that was not a bad idea at all. Not insinuating that Domino ever came up with bad ideas. There was no such thing as a bad idea, simply flawed execution, and he was yet to disappoint in that respect.

The wolf pivoted on his right foot, about to take the side entrance to the garden, until he noticed somebody else coming up the pathway out of the corner of his eye. His left foot froze halfway through his step as, whoever this person was, rapidly walked in his general direction. The newcomer drew closer, the outline slowly becoming more and more clear. Indeed, it was one of his counterparts. General Keiser's friend. Domino set his foot down gently and kindly addressed the Keidran as he approached.

"Ah, good afternoon, Mister..." he paused for effect, even though he knew the name well. "...Natani, was it?"

"Aufero illusio," the mage angrily incanted. Domino blinked back, wondering what in the world all that was about, then innocently looked back down at the ground. He noticed that something was off about his feet. They were normal. Like the illusion he was sporting was completely removed...

Mostly because it was. Domino blankly looked back up at Natani, as if she had committed a social faux pas of some kind. "That wasn't nice," was all he managed to say before his lower jaw heavily impacted the other wolf's right fist. Natani also grabbed the collar of his shirt with her free hand, and forcibly escorted Domino to the Parliament's grey brick wall. She then spun him around, grabbed him by both shoulders and pinned him against it, all the while leering at him with disgust.

Domino turned his head to the side and wiped his cheek against his shirt, cleaning his face off at the expense of a thin red smear at the shoulder. "For some reason, I don't think this is how we usually greet each other," he chortled. Even when he was in a spot like this, he always tried to remain positive, with a cheerful demeanor and a smile on his face.

To Natani, however, this simply came off as wisecracking. "You're pretty damn smug for someone trying to start a war, Dom," she hissed.

"Domino, if you would," he corrected. "Only my mother gets to call me Dom."

He was rewarded with another punch to the left side of his mouth. Natani stopped caring for logic and reason the moment she found out that Domino was the one who tried to kill her and Keith. This man was the focus of all of her rage at present, and he would be on the receiving end of all of it for what he did.

Domino spat some blood over Natani's arm before smirking at her again. "Why's it always my left side with you? That's my good half!"

"You lost the right to talk to me when you tried to kill me," Natani seethed, pointing a finger just in front of the agent's nose.

"Well, if we want to be technical..." Domino started, raising a finger matter-of-factly.

"Shut up!" Natani rammed another fist into his abdomen, near the kidneys. Domino hunched over momentarily as he recovered from the pain, breathing heavily to keep his mind focused. Natani released her other hand's grasp on his shoulder as well, as Domino collapsed onto his knees, onto the short grassy area directly in front of the wall. She turned her back to the wolf, taking a small step away from him, trying to decompress and relieve what remained of her emotions.

"I think I like talking to the Basitin more," Domino called out to the mage, still trying to recuperate from the recent onslaught. "At least he doesn't beat you senseless without giving you a chance to say something."

"You talk way too much," Natani growled over her shoulder.

"What exactly were you trying to accomplish with this, if I can ask?" Domino grinned, cringing in pain slightly. "If this was simply for intimidation, I've been through much worse, trust me."

"You were coming from the palace. Why?" Natani barked.

"Your friend, the general, wanted to talk was all. Completely harmless, nothing personal, just some friendly banter. That was it."

Natani turned back to him and squatted down, leering at the smirking, bloodied wolf with contempt. Domino started talking again, licking the small bleeding stream out of the corner of his mouth. "Now don't look at me like that. Your friend's fine. I mean, after all, killing him now gives me nothing, and you know how we are about that kind of thing."

Domino chuckled to himself again as well. "Besides, you forgot. I'm trying to get a war started. If he just drops dead for no reason, then without me it's just another murder case in the long run. No intrigue, no tension, no anything. And really, where's the fun in that?"

"So you starting a war, threatening to kill a general, all of this is just for fun?" Natani coldly repeated.

"No, not in the slightest," Domino replied. "Actually, this is how most of my business gets done. You'd be amazed at what some people can do for the right money. In fact, you're probably already on board with all that jazz, aren't you? You know  _exactly_  what I'm talking about."

The assassin yanked a dagger out of her belt and held it in front of her. "I am  _not_  like you," she firmly stated.

"I beg to disagree," Domino retorted, toothily smiling. "You take a contract from your employer, you run out, you kill, capture or do whatever you need to do to fill it, and you get a nice little stash at the end as a reward. Me, I'm doing exactly that as well. I just happen to be on a much larger scale."

"An indiscriminate one," Natani spat back. "Zen and I only kill who we need to."

"Again, much like me," Domino pointed out. "I'd like you to think for a second, Natani. About the Templars. About what they have done to you and your brother."

"That's personal!" Natani snarled, gripping the leather wrappings around her knife harder.

"I've read all about you, girlie. Your parents, that life-saving operation your brother put himself through for you, oh yes. I know you just as well as you know me."

"Shut up!" Natani yelled again. Domino thought he saw a small tear come out of one of her eyes as well, and he grinned triumphantly.

"I know how you feel about the Templars," Domino continued, dropping his voice to a soft, serpentine whisper. "You were one of their direct victims, too. Think about all of the anguish they caused you. All the pain and suffering you and your brother went through all those years alone. And think of how satisfying it's going to feel when, with the flick of a switch, I can fix  _everything_."

And then Natani did something she hadn't done in a long time. She finally snapped. "You son of a...!" she screamed lunging at Domino with the blade, in a fit of pure bloodlust and rage, sorely wanting his blood to spill  _somewhere_...

Her hand stopped just in front of the wolf's sternum, and she wasn't quite sure why for a moment. Until a bolt of pain jolted through her arm as she involuntarily twisted her hand around and tossed the blade into the air, spinning like a parade baton. Domino scoffed as his eyes followed the dagger's upward journey, impressed by his own disarming skills. Then, with his free hand, he snatched the knife out of the air, and pointed the tip just underneath Natani's muzzle, smirking as always, exactly as planned.

"Please," Domino sighed as he raised an eyebrow. "Don't ever threaten me like that again." He casually glanced down at Natani's wrist as well, which he still tightly held in his right hand. His thumb was jammed right against the long nerve running up her wrist, which forced it open to begin with. He also noticed the hand was turned at a most peculiar angle as well, one that probably couldn't be achieved through normal means.

"Might want to get that wrist looked at too," he advised, tapping the lower part of Natani's arm with the flat part of the hijacked knife. Natani let out a sharp yelp of pain in response, grimacing as her adversary innocently tortured her. "Sorry in advance if I broke it."

He curiously inspected the blade, rotating it, observing it at various angles. It was nothing special, just a normal assassin's knife. Steel, with heavy leather wrapped around the handle to make it easier to grip. Natani wasn't sure what he saw in the rudimentary weapon, but it seemed to please him nevertheless, as he spun the blade around in his hand and then slipped it between his pants and the brown belt holding it up. "Nice knife," he commented. "You won't mind if I hold onto this for a bit, do you?"

"Keep it," Natani barked back, still grimacing from the fractured bones in her hand. "Those things are cheap and common. I can always find a replacement."

"I see," Domino nodded, taking the knife back out, making Natani wonder why he even bothered with putting it away to begin with. "Well, then on that note..."

Natani was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight jumping off of the weapon, but she knew exactly where it was a second later as yet another uncomfortable sensation sliced through her arm. A small grunt later her vision was restored, and noticed that Domino's newly acquired knife now had a distinct, wet red edge that wasn't there earlier.

"I think this has a little more value now," Domino diabolically cackled, admiring the beauty of the wolf's blood decorating the knife's edge. He tossed Natani's busted wrist off to the side as he stood himself back up, now leaving the other wolf on her knees instead. "Should you ever have second thoughts about my little project, please don't hesitate to find me. I'd love to have you."

"You're a real bastard, Domino," Natani huffed, glaring at the other wolf. She would have loved to continue this fight further, but there was only so much an assassin could do with one hand, especially her non-dominant one. Words were really her only weapons at the moment, and they couldn't do much more than slow him down at this point.

Domino turned back to face Natani, towering over her like a statue. "If you're not happy with my plans, then I understand. I've no reservations about our relationship as is." His ears jumped up as he got an idea. "Wait, I know what we can do together! How about we make this a wager?" he proposed, inspecting the bloodied knife again. "Next time we meet, we'll fight, just like we did today. If you can steal this knife away from me, I'll call it quits and it'll be just like nothing happened. No war, no subversion, no anything. Life as usual. Sound good?"

He smiled warmly, clicking his tongue twice, then turned away from Natani and began to walk back down the road, towards his temporary residence. The assassin scowled back at him. "Hey!" she called after him, standing up by herself as well. "It isn't a bet if you don't stand to win something."

Domino halted to turn his head back to Natani. "You forgot that I'm a businessman, Mr. Natani," he chortled back. "I don't make bets I don't intend to lose, and once I win, there'll be nothing else for me to gain." And at that, he began strolling down the gravel path once more, cheerfully waving goodbye to his newly found rival.

* * *

 

Chapter 18

Blitz threw his head back with the glass, then raised it in front of Kayle, flipped it over and slapped it back onto the bar. "Hit me again," he requested, sliding it towards his niece.

Kayle hesitantly obliged as she corrected the glass and refilled it halfway with imported rum. "Uncle, you need to slow down. You know we don't have a high alcohol tolerance."

"I don't really care about that right now, sweetheart," he grumbled, grabbing the glass and swirling the shot around in it. "I've a...more important things on the mind."

Kayle rested both of her elbows on the bar. "I think you overreacted today," she scolded, but in a caring, almost motherly way. "Just because you didn't agree with Clovis..."

"It's not that I don't agree with him, it's why," Blitz pointed out. "He's gonna let an island nation explode just for the sake of continuing this job covertly. And I'm not gonna be a part of it." He tossed the shot back and slapped the glass back onto the bar. "Again," he ordered.

Night had fallen upon the wolf capital about an hour and a half ago, and MacMillan's was completely empty save for the two Foxes. The pub's vacancy was chiefly due to the fact that it was supposed to be closed by this time, and Kayle would normally be locking up for the night. With Blitz here, however, her entire routine would have to be put off until later. She hadn't even locked the front door yet, and she felt relatively confident that there would be at least one person who wouldn't see the sign, sit down on one of the stools and wonder why Kayle was ignoring him.

And that answer would be because she was currently occupied with her uncle. Kayle took the glass back from Blitz and started to tip the decanter into it, but not permitting any of the liquor to flow out of the mouth. Her hand twitched slightly for a second, and then she blinked and set the bottle back down. "Uncle, I can't," she sighed with depression. "This isn't like you."

"Kayle, I've had one hell of a day and I need to get my mind off of Clovis," Blitz replied as he shut his eye and massaged his forehead.

"Fine. I get that. This isn't the solution, though," the vixen stated. "The Blitz I know would go right back in there and demand he change his mind."

"He's not going to, is the problem," Blitz mumbled back. "He's so convinced that he needs to keep this a secret that he's actually afraid to make it public."

"Don't say you don't understand where he's coming from," Kayle responded. "We both know you don't exactly have the world's most legal occupation. I'd be surprised if anyone of the law takes a spy and a contract killer seriously."

"I don't have a problem with killing, sweetheart, but I do have a problem with unnecessary killing. Innocent killing. And that's exactly what that bastard's about to do," Blitz quickly snapped back. "Even if the police arrest me, they're not going to ignore a terrorism threat as big as this one is. They can help, as much as Clovis wants to tell himself otherwise."

"I'm not agreeing with Clovis, but you have to realize we're really out of the way to do anything about this."

"Then they'll find a mage or something, some way to get over there and stop this. They  _can_  stop this."

"Uncle, you're starting to scare me," Kayle softly replied. "You're thinking too much about this."

"Kayle, you're not listening to me. People. Are going. To die," the older fox enunciated, tapping the bar with his finger with each sentence. "I need to figure this out, and not sometime soon, but now."

He was interrupted by a knock on the pub's front door, and he slammed both of his hands onto the bar. Kayle jumped in surprise, never seeing Blitz react so violently to something like that. "Get the hell out of here! We're closed!" he exploded, trying to frighten away whoever was outside.

"I can see the sign just fine. I wanted to talk to you," Zen called back through the door. "Mind if I come in?"

Blitz sighed to himself, annoyed that he let himself get that jumpy, and rested his head back in both of his hands. "Dammit," he sighed to himself.

"It's unlocked, Zen," Kayle announced as she put the liquor back on the shelf behind her and started to clean her uncle's glass.

The door creaked open, jingling the tiny bell near the top corner, as Zen entered the shut down pub. He flicked the moistened hood of his shirt off of his head and wicked some of the excess rainwater off of the sleeves.

"Still raining?" Kayle curiously asked, as she ducked behind the counter.

"It hasn't let up all day," Zen answered as he dripped over to the stool adjacent to his old comrade and sat himself down. "Supposed to clear up for tomorrow, but still. It's very wet."

Kayle popped back up with a white dishtowel and handed it over to the wolf. "What's Clovis been up to?"

"He's trying to figure out what we're going to do about the bomb threat. Natani's gone quiet too, so we'll have to run the plan by him as soon as we can get in touch," Zen updated the foxes as he dried off whatever he could with the loaned towel.

"You waited this long to tell him?" Blitz exclaimed.

"He's been blocking me out ever since I left the manor. Didn't have much of a choice," Zen explained.

"And somehow this isn't a problem?"

"I looked at the blueprints again with Clovis. For something that reactive, Domino can't just toss everything into a pot and hope it works. He's going to need time to make sure it's ready. So no. We have until tomorrow. At least."

Blitz blinked and rubbed his hands over his face. "Remind me to buy your brother some flowers or something once this fiasco's over, eh?" he groaned. "He's been saving hides way too many times."

Zen laughed a bit. "Nat's not really a big flower guy, but I'll tell him you're thinking of him," he replied, handing the damp towel back to Kayle, who walked it over to the nearby sink and started to wring it dry.

Blitz spun in his chair to look directly at Zen. "You're not here just to chat, are you?" he rhetorically asked, leaning on the bar with his right arm.

Zen silently huffed as he brought up the main topic. "Clovis wants you back on the job."

"Yeah, we all want a lot of things," Blitz cynically spat back.

"He says he's sorry for lashing out like he did, and he's trying to think up a plan for Natani right now." Well, maybe that first part was a little fallacious. Clovis never apologized for anything, at least not whenever Zen was around to see it. But maybe it would help get his partner back on his side.

"He's gonna need more than an apology if he wants me back," the fox answered, spinning back around to address the bartender. "Uh, Kayle?"

"I'm not giving you anything more to drink tonight," she asserted as she used the towel from earlier to clean up a few spots on the bar.

"Not even some tap water?" he asked.

"That's different," she replied, hanging up the towel to dry and grabbing a tall glass from down below.

"Blitz, look, I'm not here to tell you that you're wrong. Because you aren't," Zen started to explain.

"Good to see two people agree with me at least," the Polar Fox grumbled as Kayle dropped off the water glass in front of him. "So then why are you trying to get me back with Clovis?"

Zen opened his mouth to answer, but then Blitz put a hand up and kept talking. "No, scratch that. Here's a better question. Why are  _you_  still with Clovis, if you think I had the right idea?"

Zen took a deep breath, trying to make sure he knew what he was saying. He wished that he did. Blitz brought up a great point. Zen wasn't completely on board with the half-fox's plans either. And it was a little upsetting how little Clovis seemed to care for the Basitins in their initial exchange. Blitz's question didn't need an answer in that regard. So then what was Zen still doing with him? Apart from Natani's safety, did he really care about anything else that happened?

No, that couldn't have been it. Zen might have been tough with some people in the past, but even he knew when he was being excessively cruel. This wasn't just about his brother any more. This was also about his friends. Their friends. Zen wasn't about to leave anybody behind, and he wasn't about to let anybody die either. But that still left the question of why he still bothered working with Clovis? Was the contract? Maybe psychologically, sure, but Zen tried to think of a better reason than that.

Or, maybe, it could have been...

"Just because I think you're right, Blitz, doesn't mean I think that Clovis is wrong," he finally spoke up. "I don't want to see anybody else die, believe me, but we have to make sure our work up to now isn't for nothing."

Blitz took a small sip out of the water glass. "It's good to see you're trying to get a compromise out of this, but it's not going to work like that. We can't have one with the other."

"Really? Because Clovis is working on doing exactly that."

"You'd understand if I'm not biting on that," Blitz sipped out of the glass again, disinterestedly.

"I went through the file again, more specifically the stuff you didn't get to before...you know," Zen informed, trying not to make the recent fight any more sore than it already was. "We're not nearly as alone as you think we are."

For the first time tonight, Blitz finally found this talk intriguing. "What do we have? Another contact?"

"His name's Sythe, spelt without the 'c' for some reason. Not sure why Nat never told me he was on the island with him, but that's not important. He got sent to that hearing the day before to represent the Forest Wolves and try to defend them."

"What do you mean by represent?" Kayle asked. Blitz shot a confused glance her direction. Normally she didn't put herself into conversations like this, but the Polar Fox was slightly impressed that she was keeping up to speed on their happenings.

"He has family in the right places. So when they heard Keith got attacked and the Basitins would probably start pointing fingers at them, they sent Sythe out to try and calm them down."

Blitz took another sip of water as Zen continued briefing him on the new findings. "And you'll never guess who caught wind of it as well."

"The Fang?" Kayle asked.

"Well, of course. He found Sythe in the packet. Zen wouldn't have figured out he was there otherwise," Blitz added. "Right?"

"Partially," Zen said, clearing his throat. "Nat never brought him up, but I had a good idea he was with him for a bit."

"Can I ask how?" the bartender kindly inquired, leaning onto the bar again.

"Well, uh," Zen started, again unsure of how to tell this story. "Blitz, remember when I told you about Domino spying on the hearing?"

"Yeah, your brother thought he had an illusion on him, right? Why?" he asked, lifting the water glass again.

Zen cleared his throat again, multiple times in fact, before answering: "A squirrel may have tipped me off."

Both Blitz and Kayle stared disbelievingly, narrowly at the wolf for a second. "A squirrel?" the two foxes asked in unison, making sure they caught that correctly.

"Please don't ask, it's a long story," Zen shook his head in embarrassed disappointment. "Shortly, Sythe is the only guy I know who has a pet squirrel and could possibly coerce someone like the Basitins into letting him take it into Parliament with him. So there you go."

Kayle blinked. Blitz accidentally tipped some of the water onto his pant leg. "A  _squirrel_?" they repeated synchronously.

"Yes, a squirrel. Can we stop saying that, please?" Zen requested.

"Sorry," Kayle smiled, shutting her eyes. "Needed a few seconds to work that through."

"I'll deal with it later," Blitz commented, brushing the spilled water off of his pants. "So, this Sythe guy's with the government, huh?"

"Clovis has been trying to use Natani to put the bug in his ear since I left," Zen responded, confidently. "With any luck, we'll get the right people involved and, worse comes to worst, minimize any casualties."

Blitz also noticed the wolf digging around in his shirt pocket for something as he talked. "So, until that little problem gets sorted, or at least until Domino has to come back here, looks like we're pretty much back to where we started," he stated, as he extracted a small black cloth bundle out of his shirt and slid it across the bar to Blitz.

"You left that in Clovis' office earlier," Zen observed, as Blitz untied the small knot in the cloth and opened it up. Inside was the worn, grey-painted casing of Blitz's favorite butterfly knife, neatly collapsed and tied up in what the Polar Fox now realized was his lucky bandana. He picked the collapsed knife up gently between his thumb and first two fingers, slowly inspecting the loved blade.

"So what do we do now?" Blitz asked, softly.

"Clovis was playing with the idea of going on another intel raid. Maybe find out some more about Domino and what exactly his next move is once he's finished on the island," Zen informed. "I'm going to need a co-op, though. Natani's on the other side of the globe, and Clovis is, well, Clovis."

The fox flipped the knife open expertly with his hand, and casually looked over the blade itself. Kayle turned back to Zen as her uncle admired his keepsake. "No hard feelings between us and Clovis?" she asked, with a welcome, lighthearted grin.

"Well, Blitz did try to assault him. Said that'd be reflected in his holiday bonus this year," Zen jocularly replied, succeeding in also finally getting an enthused smile out of the older of the two foxes. "You said a few days back that trust isn't an easy thing to build up. With you, Blitz, it's pretty damn hard to tear down too."

Blitz finished inspecting his knife, and then clicked and snapped it shut in a series of maneuvers Zen couldn't even try to replicate. The fox slipped his weapon back into his trouser pocket, then looked back at Zen, determinedly, as he picked up the solid black bandana and tied it off around his neck.

Zen leaned both of his elbows back on the bar, smiling to himself. "So, you want to get to work?"

The white-furred Keidran gave his response by simply pulling the bandana back over his lower face, the lone, icy blue eye saying everything that had to be said.

But, just in case there was any confusion: "Yeah, ready when you are," Blitz acknowledged. "Mate."

* * *

 

"A bomb? You're serious?" Natani repeated in bewilderment as Clovis inspected her arm. Despite being almost everything on the Quantum being made out of wood, at least it was good soundproofing material when the doors to the rooms were shut. She didn't mind so much if Keith managed to catch a word or two, nor would she be surprised with those long, large ears of his. But as far as Mike, Evals, or Gods forbid if somehow Domino was concerned, she preferred these issues be discussed where they couldn't drop in on them. Exactly why Clovis demanded they meet in her room, then, was a mystery, considering that, with the busted door, it currently had all the privacy of an outhouse with floor to ceiling windows. She managed to make do by shutting whatever remained of the door and then stuffing a blanket into the hole where the doorknob should have been. Far from ideal, but it would suffice for now.

Her only other gripe involved the person she was talking to at present. If she was going to use the mental link to discuss something as sensitive as a bomb threat, she'd rather it be from Zen. Much, much rather. Despite holding a grudge against Clovis for simply being Clovis and trying to milk the two brothers for every single coin he could, there was also the matter of his mannerisms that put the younger wolf off. The half-fox could be reciting a battle speech from a hundred years ago and he still wouldn't be able to manage that without sounding patronizing, undignified or just smugly superior. Usually a combination of all three.

That was just her being bitter though. And in fact, it actually looked like Clovis was trying to help her, taking a closer look at her wounded arm from earlier while Natani sat on the edge of her bed. Maybe if she just tried to picture him as Zen with a voice change...

" _Quite, and I regret having a conversation like this with you at this hour. You are a terribly hard person to get a hold of, you know that?_ "

Not working, or at least while he continued to talk like that.

" _But enough of that for now. I'm more interested in how you managed to do this to yourself,_ " Clovis continued, pointing up with his finger.

Natani cringed with displeasure as she obeyed, holding her arm out straight in front of her. "Ran into Domino a little earlier," she explained as Clovis resumed his examination. "Talk got a little philosophical."

" _Do tell,_ " Clovis invited, squeezing the arm's lower half at various points.

"He got to me emotionally, and I wanted to hurt him," Natani admitted. She hated when others made her act out of rage or anything else. "He disarmed me..."

" _Almost literally, I see._ "

Natani snickered a bit. If there was any upside to talking with Clovis, at least he could make a decent joke every once in a while. "...then made a very, very strange bet with me after."

" _How strange do you mean?_ "

"Next time we fight, he'll use my knife, and if I can steal it back from him, he'll drop everything about trying to start a war and go home."

The half-fox looked skeptically up at Natani. " _And what if you can't?_ "

"Nothing," she answered. "He's so confident we can't get the better of him, he doesn't want anything if we lose."

Clovis thought about that for a moment, then went back to the arm. " _There's a fine line between confidence and simply cocky arrogance. And this Domino fellow is almost certainly the latter._ "

"You're arrogant too, in a way, you know," Natani pointed out.

" _That may be, but at least I know a bad deal when I see one._ "

The wolf blinked for a moment. "Did you just give me a compliment?" she asked in bewilderment, as the half-fox may have just said something that he almost never heard him say.

" _If it makes you feel any better, then yes. I suppose I just did,_ " Clovis chided with a clap of his hands. " _Now, regarding that wrist. I have good news and bad. What would you like first?_ "

"Might as well start with the good."

" _It isn't broken as much as it is dislocated, which means there's a very simple way to fix it._ "

"Does that mean the bad news is...?" Natani started to ask.

" _Yes, do you have anything hard or firm you can bite on?_ " Clovis replied.

Natani thought about using her bag of crystals, but even in mass quantities they weren't all that sturdy. She glanced over at her dresser for ideas, and then got a workable one. "I have a few shirts I can probably chew on," she thought out loud.

" _That'll do. We'll roll it up and tie it around your mouth like a gag. You'll thank me for this later,_ " Clovis ordered as Natani rose to her feet.

"Most people generally get help for this kind of thing, right?" Natani pushed for clarification as she walked over to the dresser and opened up the middle drawer.

" _Generally. Unless you'd like to try it out for yourself._ "

The wolf looked up pensively as she thought about who could help put her wrist back in place. "Keith is out talking to Sythe again, Mike would be way to squeamish to do this, and Evals is..." She stopped to find the right adjective for the dog at present. "...indisposed at the moment."

" _Indisposed, how, exactly?_ " Clovis asked, perking an ear up from underneath his red hood.

"You don't want to hear the answer," Natani responded, and then looked back over her shoulder at the projection. "But then, it's just me, isn't it?"

" _Not necessarily,_ " Clovis answered. " _But I will need to borrow you in order to do it._ "

Natani froze as she picked up a blank white short-sleeve as she heard that. It was one of the features of the mental link she didn't really care for and hated when it was used involuntarily. It pretty much involved Zen taking over her body for a few seconds and then jumping back out. He only ever used it with her consent and it wasn't for a long period of time either. Clovis, on the other hand, used something a bit more sneaky, whereby he could do that whether Natani felt like cooperating or not. It was a very fiendish backdoor trick he had integrated into the original mental link, and Natani despised the fact that it even existed. At least she should be thankful that Clovis hasn't used the exploit ever since her previous business with him concluded. Just the idea that he was even bringing it up though, was disconcerting.

" _...if you don't like it, I'm going in anyways. Your arm is in dire need of repairs,_ " the half-fox pushed.

There was something about this scenario, though, that kept Natani from severing the connection right now and just living with the pain. If this had been anything else, say, Clovis needed her body to steal a painting out of a museum or raid a bank, then that would have been her reaction almost immediately. Then it occurred to her, and even Natani had troubles taking it in.

"You want to help me?" she dubiously inquired.

" _As I told you before, you don't have to like it, but your cooperation would be nice to have,_ " Clovis smiled his practically trademarked crooked smile. " _Also lessens the chances of your body rejecting me. You remember what happened last time._ "

"Distinctly," Natani muttered under her breath. She finished extracting her shirt and slammed the drawer shut, looking back at the grinning spymaster perched on her bed. She took the spot next to him. "Let's just get this over with."

" _Ah, I know what this is about,_ " Clovis crooned as he moved himself behind Natani, bringing himself up to a kneeling position. " _You don't trust me doing this, do you._ "

"Do you want the truth or one of those little white lies that won't hurt your feelings?" Natani rhetorically questioned.

Clovis laughed to himself instead of answering. " _You know me, Natani. You know that I like to keep my investments in good condition. My agents are not an exception._ "

He interlocked his fingers and pushed the palms of his hands outward, making a low, nearly inaudible crackling noise as he did so. " _I implore you. Keep calm, relax, and breathe. I'll be done before you know it._ "

Natani took a deep breath, shut her eyes and let her mind go blank as Clovis' projection started to merge with her body. A very strange tingling sensation was felt in the back of her head, and she shuddered as it dispersed down her spine and through the rest of the nervous system. The feeling finally stopped as Natani's eyes, through no will of their own, jumped open, the one grey iris now dyed a bright, crimson red.

Her head looked around the room and her shoulders rotated as Clovis tried to get comfortable in her body. "I forgot how strange this feels," her mouth said after a bit, in Clovis' voice peculiarly. "It's...a good strange, though. I like it."

He looked at Natani's arm, curiously, now that he was doing it in first person, then set it gently back down on the bed. Clovis also looked back down at his new form's lower half, and once more started toothily grinning. "So this is what it's like being a woman," he thought out loud. Then his face lit up with a very mischievous idea. He took both of his hands, dug them underneath his new shirt, started to gently pull it up...

He got about halfway, just below Natani's bandages, before the body's left hand jumped back to life and socked the face squarely on the left cheekbone. Clovis exhaled loudly as the blow hit, and had this body been anybody else's he would have been quite surprised that it happened. He had these complications before when using Natani like this, when she would sporadically grab control of her body and complicate the possession. So far, this was going very normally.

"Alright, I probably deserved that one," he admitted, setting Natani's shirt back down.

_And if that wasn't hurting me too, I'd still be pounding you,_  Natani mentally projected her protests against Clovis' behavior.  _Just because you have my body for a little bit..._

"You're not amazing at taking jokes, I notice," Clovis chortled.

_Look, can you stop messing around and fix my wrist?_  the wolf barked.

"Since you asked nicely," Clovis replied, tightly rolling up the shirt Natani had gotten out earlier. "This isn't going to be fun, by the way. I'll still feel some of it, since I'm the one in control, but you'll feel the majority, seeing as how this is your body in the end."

_Didn't expect it any other way,_  Natani replied.

Clovis slipped the cloth into Natani's mouth, but didn't tie it off quite yet. "You sure you're ready for this?" he asked, despite the mouth he was speaking through being partially filled with cotton.

_I'm no good with just one hand, Clovis. The sooner we do this the better._

"Just the response I was hoping for," Clovis grinned as he yanked the cloth gag back as far as he could and tied it off behind Natani's head, not exerting the right hand any more than he needed to. Once he assured the gag was tied off sufficiently, he lowered both of the wolf's arms and then grasped the right wrist with her left hand. The thumb ran parallel to the rest of the arm, ready to provide some additional torque for the operation, as the other four fingers rested perpendicular to the arm bone for support.

"Ohn hree?" Clovis requested through the cloth binding.

_On three,_  the wolf agreed.

Clovis took a deep breath in, for the sake of Natani's body, and started the count. "Ohm...foo..." he announced before he gave the faulty wrist a violent twist upwards, like he was turning a wrench on a stubborn pipe. The nerves there were painfully jolted awake as the wrist bones cracked and popped on their journey back to their proper places. To the half-fox, it felt like he got stabbed in the hand by a hot fire poker. To the wolf, it was more on the magnitude of five pokers, about ten times as hot and with a wood saw grinding into the rest of her arm in addition.

Clovis bit hard into the shirt as he let the body fall backwards onto the bed. The procedure took less than two seconds, but the aftershocks lasted far longer. Natani's mental screams bordered on deafening, and despite Clovis' attempts to compartmentalize and block out the wolf's cries, even then the suppressed howls echoed inside his head. He continued to breathe deeply, evenly, trying not to leave Natani's body in any worse condition than he found it in.

The hot fire poker sensation finally passed through, and Clovis used the restored hand to wrestle the shirt off of Natani's mouth. Another long breath, followed by another toothy grin as he stared up at the quarter's ceiling for a few moments, lying down on the bed. "That was character building," he chuckled after a prolonged exhale.

He waited patiently for Natani to say something back to him. She did take the brunt of the pain after all; she would have needed much more time to recover from her share of it. A few seconds passed. A few more. The wolf didn't answer. "You still there?" the half-fox asked, professionally.

_Next time we do something like that,_  Natani mentally panted.  _You need to tell me exactly how painful it's going to be._

"That of course implies that there's going to be a next time."

_There won't be,_  Natani asserted.

"Oh, I see," Clovis slowly responded, as he looked back down the body currently hosting his psyche. "Well, then if that's the case..." he said, snaking a hand up the back of the shirt he was wearing and starting to pick at the bandaging there...

The wolf convulsed slightly in rejection and then yelled, "Get the hell out of there!" as Natani mentally kicked the spymaster out of the body, his projection flying out of the bed and onto the floor. Natani's eye returned to its natural, grey tone as she sat herself back up, flexing her hand comfortably.

Clovis leaned himself back up onto his lower arms as the wolf checked his work. " _I get that it's just your personality and everything, but you never let me have any fun, do you?_ "

"You know damn well I'm touchy about that kind of stuff," she barked.

" _And it's partially my job to ensure you haven't forgotten._ "

"Honestly, it isn't," Natani argued as she jumped back up off the bed and made her way to the door.

" _Off to see your friend Sythe, I assume?_ " Clovis politely asked as he stood himself up off the floor. " _I don't think he's quite up to speed yet as to where we are._ "

"Neither is Keith, and waiting for tomorrow gives Domino the advantage," Natani quickly answered. "What time is it over there?"

" _It's pushing ten. And you're, what, two if not three behind me? Why do you ask?_ "

"I think I missed curfew. Damn," Natani swore, slamming a hand into the wooden doorframe defeatedly. She hung her head, but for no more than a couple of seconds. "No, this can't wait."

" _You know you're in trouble the moment someone catches you, right?_ "

"I can't afford to sit on this, Clovis. If I don't tell Keith now and we cast off tomorrow knowing there's a live bomb in Parliament, then Domino wins. We have to tell him."

Clovis scoffed a bit in response. " _Well, good luck to you then,_ " he stated. " _Stay out of sight, and please, don't do anything stupid._ "

Natani yanked her door open. "You really don't have a lot of confidence in me," she noted.

" _None in the least. Now get out of here before I think you're making a mistake,_ " Clovis shooed the wolf out of her room, waving both hands in front of him.

Natani nodded back and fast walked her way out of her quarters, dragging the door behind her. She halted abruptly, though, before the door closed all the way. "Oh, and Clovis?" she addressed the half-fox through the small opening. Clovis was about to cut the connection on his end, but waited to see what the wolf needed.

"Thanks," she quietly said to him. "About the wrist." The half-fox gave her another sly smile and a nod before the projection evaporated.

* * *

 

Chapter 19

Mike waddled down the ship's narrow corridor towards Evals' room, carrying at least twenty kilograms worth of spellbooks in his arms. That was another thing that got to him about his physical abilities; apart from him being rather short, he didn't have that much to go off of as far as strength was concerned either. The Fox Keidran body was designed for speed and elusiveness, a nice benefit to have when it came to rigging, climbing and other ship related upkeep. As far as moving heavy materials, however, he would have liked Evals around for some sort of assistance. His arms drooped further to the ground, and Mike stopped his trek, set the books down for a moment and tried to give his arms just a bit of a break.

Frankly, Mike just wanted the day to end. Essentially, everything he needed other people to do, namely Evals fixing Natani's door and Natani fixing Evals' gender, were never accomplished, while everything he didn't necessarily needed to get done at first, like sending Maddie on an impromptu mission to the local herbalist's, was. Somehow, today got all of his priorities backwards, and while that didn't cause him to admit defeat yet, he was annoyed by the idea that it was now late in the evening and he still had a ton of work to do. And since Natani couldn't help with Evals since her wrist was at an angle Mike didn't even know was possible to attain, she was in no position to be casting spells at the moment.

Which of course meant that it came to Mike himself to rectify the situation. Of course, he had no idea how mass dispels worked, since Natani only briefly brought it up earlier and then had to run off for...something. So that meant it was studying time, and Mike had grabbed all the material he could manage to fit into his arms for what was sure to be an aggressively boring evening.

He finally entered the galley, one of the very few rooms on the Quantum with a table large enough for his books, and tried to pick up the pace as he neared the resting point. He scooted one of the chairs out of the way with his foot, then, with a series of struggling grunts, lifted the book stack as high as he could manage in one last burst of strength, until the bottom was just above the table's lip. Mike quickly tried to put them down, hastily finishing his approach in an attempt to do so. The momentum and weight of the books carried him to the table. It also carried the fox over the table as well, resulting in him comically lying down on top of it, feet dangling off the edge and hands pinned down by the books' mass.

Mike tugged underneath the lowermost book, trying to slide his hand out from under it. He successfully liberated his right after a few yanks, then went for the left in a similar manner. He gave it a small pull, then stopped once he noticed the leaning tower of spellcasting starting to turn in response. Thinking fast, he elected to put his right hand near the top to support it, while still trying to free the other one in the meantime. He tried again, yanking with more force, and was pleased to see his left hand escaping the books' clutches. Mike sighed with relief, glad to see he had averted a crisis, and, ready to sit down and get cracking, moved his supporting hand off of the top of the tower...

Causing the entire library to continue leaning, towards the fox as he noticed posthumously, and then topple and collapse onto the sailor, burying him in an avalanche of intermediate spellcasting, mana theory and the history of the magical schools.

An echoing of padded footsteps came down the hall, as Natani urgently paced towards the A Deck stairs. She was armed to the teeth with a slew of throwing knives, short blades and a pouch stuffed with mana. She was out for a mission, and nothing was about to delay this news. Not the harbor guard. Not the Basitin city watch. And definitely none of Mike and Evals' high jinks. She blurred past Evals' room, where she could have sworn she heard the dog still snoozing away. She rushed past the multipurpose room, where she and Keith had been sparring on their way to the island. She hurried past the ship galley, where Mike was lying on top of the table underneath a mountain of textbooks...

Natani froze, perplexed, and slowly backpedaled out of the hall and back to the galley, just to make sure that...

"Mike?" she addressed, astonished by the realism of the scene before her.

"I'm okay..." the fox wheezed back, his voice muffled by the numerous pages he was trying to talk through.

Natani ran over to the talking book pile and began to excavate Mike out from under it. "What happened here?" she demanded, pulling off one of the books and setting it aside.

"I wanted to study up," Mike gasped. "You never got around to casting the spell to fix Evals, so I was going to read up on it myself." He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "It's heavy material."

"I have the crystals on me, you know," Natani sighed as she continued the dig. "All you had to do was ask."

"Well, yeah," Mike explained. "I saw your hand when you came in, though. Didn't want to be..." He paused as the wolf removed some of the weight off of his back, uncompressing his lungs. "Didn't want to be a bother."

"I never said that it  _was_  a bother. I just..." Natani tried to word this as softly as she could. "...had other priorities pop up."

"What about your hand then?"

"I patched it up. It's fine now," she declared, yanking off a rather thick text on advanced illusion spell mechanics. With the majority of the mass now off of his body, Mike pushed off the table with his hands, sliding himself out from under the rest of the mound and onto the galley floor.

He took a deep, glorious breath of fresh air, overjoyed that he wouldn't be fatally victimized by the onslaught of reading material. "Thank you," he panted, looking up at the mage.

"Did all of that come out of my room?" Natani jabbed a thumb towards the book stack.

Mike nodded as he stood himself back up. "I wasn't sure where exactly that spell would be, so I just grabbed everything I could. I was in my room until the sun went down, so I decided to move here."

The wolf blinked at the sheer size of Mike's studying material, unable to provide a more emotional reaction. "You really want to get Evals back to normal, don't you?"

Mike picked up one of the books arbitrarily and started to pan through it. "He did his homework to try and help me, so it's only fair I try to help him." He looked back at Natani and nodded his head towards the A Deck stairs. "If you have somewhere to go, you better head out."

The wolf sighed to herself and removed her mana pouch from her belt. "I was actually going to run to see Keith, but this shouldn't take long."

"You're...you're sure?" Mike insecurely asked. "I mean, if you're off to talk to him, it's probably important, so I get it if..."

"I kinda feel bad for pushing you aside earlier," Natani explained, counting off the requisite number of crystals for the mass dispel. "And I think it's kinda cool how you're willing to do all this for him. So, I want to lend a hand."

Mike was slightly surprised by the wolf's proposal, and smiled widely as he started to clear off the table. "Natani, you're..." he choked on his words slightly. "...you're too nice to us sometimes."

"Don't think on this too much," she replied, setting the bag down and double checking the count. "But, like I said, I want to make it up to you guys."

Mike finished stacking the books into two smaller, less unstable stacks, and then shoved them aside to the corner of the table to make room for the pile of crystals the mage just set down. "He'll appreciate you doing this for him."

Natani looked up and quickly surveyed the galley in response. "That's actually a good point. Where is Evals? Or Evalyn, rather?"

"Still sleeping," Mike answered unsavorily. "You might have heard her when you were coming out."

"I'll go wake her up," Natani volunteered, starting towards the hallway.

"Nah, I've got her," Mike grinned. "Watch this." He turned his head towards Evals' room and put a hand to his mouth.

"Evalyn!" he shouted down the hallway. "Evalyn! Here, girl!"

No response, and Natani judgingly looked down at the fox. "This is sort of depressing."

"Nah, she'll come," Mike assured, turning back to the hallway. "Evalyyyyyyyn!" he called as he clapped his hands a couple times.

"...what is it, Mike?" came a sleepy, muffled yell back.

"C'mon into the galley, girl!" Mike commanded. "Natani wants to see you!"

"What..." Evalyn needed a second to register what her friend was saying. "What did you tell him?"

"He knows what happened to you, and he wants to help."

A pause arrived before Evalyn's answer. "Tell him...tell him to come back tomorrow. I need a nap before I go to sleep."

"Mike, this was cute, but I think I should just go and..." Natani started to say.

"Natani has cookies!" Mike hollered down the hallway.

"What do you mean, I have...?"

"Cookies?" Evalyn enthusiastically asked, poking her head out of the door to her room, ears at the ready after hearing the magic buzzword.

"Go get him, girl!" Mike coaxed, pointing at the wolf.

The dog scampered out of the room and ecstatically began a full sprint towards Natani at the promise of her favorite snacks. "Yay!" she exclaimed as she bounded down the hallway, arms outreached.

"No, nonono!" Natani stammered, bracing herself for impact. "Down, Evalyn! Sit! Stay! Heel! Whoa!" Mike shut his eyes as the distance closed, unable to bring himself to watch the inevitable head-on collision, as Evalyn screamed towards Natani.

If there was ever a time Mike could have used the word "pow" to adequately describe something, then he likely would have deployed it here, as Evalyn leapt for joy and crashed onto the galley's floor, with Natani locked in a loving embrace as the one who promised the dog food. Mike felt the floor beneath him vibrate slightly as the two canines literally hit the deck, and as soon as the tremors died, he slowly opened an eye to view the aftermath. Or at least what he could of it for now. This was also when Mike realized that he hadn't swept any of B Deck ever since they cast off, so presently there was a small cloud of dust between him and the other two, obscuring any traces of the impact. The fox waved a hand in front of him, trying to dispatch the cloud and see exactly what happened.

Natani also opened her eyes a bit to see if any of her bones were broken. She also wanted to yell at Evalyn for a little bit as well, for tackling her like this despite her saying "no" in multiple ways. She tried opening her mouth, but for some reason it wouldn't obey...

And it wasn't until she looked directly upward and saw Evalyn's mouth adoringly, lovingly interlocked with hers that she understood why that was. Mike couldn't bring himself to say anything about what the two Keidran could possibly be doing in a position like that, and instead just stood off to the side, with his mouth open but no sound coming from it.

It also bothered the wolf to a tremendous degree that Evalyn seemed to be enjoying this completely accidental moment far too much. Natani quickly pushed the lovesick puppy off of her mouth and body, rolling her over to the side, then immediately sprang up from the floor and paced over to the galley's sink in a very disgruntled manner.

Evalyn looked up at the wolf she stole a smooch from as Mike finally recovered his voice. "What did I just see?" he tried to comprehend.

"I've been kissed by a dog," Natani grumbled, turning the faucet and splashing some water around. "I've got dog germs."

Mike sighed and turned to face Evalyn, like he was holding a rolled-up newspaper in his hands. "How many more kisses are you going to steal on this trip?"

"I figured that, since I'm still a girl, I may as well make the most of it," Evalyn woofed, sniffing the air intently. "Anyways, there are more pressing issues right now. Cookies?"

"There aren't any," Natani growled as the water started to heat up. "Mike just said that so you would come out of your room."

Evalyn's ears drooped as she let out a very, very sad "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww," in response. It reminded her of her time with Eric, whenever he needed to bring in her and Mike for their annual check-ups. Evalyn never liked going to the vet for anything, and Eric loved to promise her food upon coming with him. Of course, there never was, and she was usually treated to a vaccine or two instead. She hated being exploited like that, but she hated the fact that she kept doing it to herself even more.

"Then what are we here for?" Evalyn asked as soon as she accepted the cookies were a lie.

"As soon as I'm done cleaning my mouth out, I'm going to cast the spell to fix you up," Natani blandly answered, pooling some hot water into her hand and lapping it up with her tongue.

Evalyn's ears perked right back up, her tail thumping the deck. "You know what to do?"

"I know  _what_  to do, yes," Natani cynically responded. "The question is if I still want to."

"Natani, don't be like that..." Evalyn pleaded as she stood back up from the floor.

"I don't know, pooch. I have a lot of things to do tonight. I might need to get back to you tomorrow."

Evalyn whimpered, but it seemed a little unnecessary once she saw Mike walking up to Natani, leaning against the adjacent countertop.

"You know, it might actually be in your best interest to do this as soon as you can," the fox asserted as Natani shut off the water.

"I doubt that it is," the wolf replied, splashing the leftover hand water down the drain.

"You sure?" Mike smiled. "Because if not, that kiss might not be the only one you get from her."

Natani shuddered as the sailor brought up a very valid alternative. Dreading the prospect of having to decontaminate her mouth a second time, she glanced over at the fox and pointed a finger in his direction. "Don't scare me like that," she stated as she turned for the mana crystals set aside from earlier. "Alright, doggie, come over here," she coaxed.

Evalyn happily sat down in the chair next to Natani, cheerfully, expectantly panting. "So what do I have to do?" she asked obediently.

"Nothing, and don't you dare try doing anything else," the wolf barked as she prepared the spell, the blue wisps of mana floating up from the pile of crystals.

Mike curiously tilted his head as he watched the assassin get ready. "Hey, won't this also kill the hot water enchantments and whatnot on the ship?"

"It might, but I'll deal with it later," Natani pushed the problem aside. "For now..."

She accumulated the various blue wisps into a large smoky sphere, hovering just above her hand. She then pointed her forefinger at the globe, softly said "Discute omnes," and then prodded the sphere, like she was bursting a bubble. Only instead of releasing soap, this time a short lived but shockingly bright flash came out. Natani was the only one with the foresight to try shutting her eyes before finishing the spell. As for the dog and fox, they would have been lucky to see the results after a burst as luminescent as that was.

Mike shook his head vigorously and put a hand down on his counter to keep his dazed balance steady. His vision was whitewashed for a few moments, but the environment slowly faded back to its natural values after a few seconds. He dizzily turned to the other two canines...

"Evals! You're back!" he exclaimed, throwing both of his hands into the air like he was at a New Year's party. His body quickly reminded him why that was a bad idea, and immediately gripped the countertop to regain balance. Evals looked back down at his body to double check, and let out a deep sigh of relief.

Natani nodded once she verified the spell worked and began to clean up the now empty crystals. "Good to see this is done with," she remarked as she slid the empty crystals into her hand. "Now, I'm going to head out for something. Please don't..."

She got interrupted by a big, thankful hug from Evals, once more pinning her upper arms to her sides. "Thanks, Natani!" he cheerfully yelled, tail wagging hard enough to generate hurricane force winds.

Under different conditions, the wolf likely would have told Evals to get off of her and resumed cleanup. This time, it felt different, somehow. Like Evals wasn't doing this for the sake of doing it. He had a very "because he felt like doing it" personality that caused her and, to a larger extent, Mike a lot of trouble as a result. Just judging from the reaction, however, this felt more...genuine.

Natani patted the dog on the back, returning the gesture as best as she could manage. "Yeah," she responded. "Yeah, no problem, Evals."

* * *

 

"And why haven't we done anything about this yet?" Sythe demanded, keeping his voice down out of respect for the squirrel napping on the table.

"Because we  _can't_  do anything about it yet," Keith asserted, hands defeatedly resting in his pants pockets. "Between the three of us that know who Domino is, only one of us can tear off the disguise, and even if we did that, we can't prove he's done anything. For all anybody else knows, he's just another Keidran practicing his spellwork."

"Hell, for all they know, he was even spying to begin with! That's how far behind we are!" the wolf yelled. Mrs. Nibbly sleepily opened an eye for a second, and Sythe promptly turned his attention to the squirrel, soothingly patting her. "Sorry I woke you, Nibs. We're just talking is all."

Mrs. Nibbly softly squeaked in acceptance, and rested her head back on her paws. Sythe was at least a little thankful that Mrs. Nibbly was the only person disturbed by that last outburst, which would have definitely not been the case had he and Keith been having this talk in his quarters instead. With the palace's large, probably empty hallways, that yell likely would have been amplified and rebounded multiple times before it finally died out and tipped off every guard in there to a noise disturbance.

The alternative, then, was Sythe's apartment in the Keidran District of the island. It laid in a relatively high end, stone brick housing structure about three stories high, with Sythe's room being located on the ground floor. It was also in an ideal location as far as his business was concerned, since the building itself and Sythe's front door opened directly into the district's main street, which in turn led into the main avenue to the Basitin governmental buildings.

The apartments, as usual, were neatly furnished and cleaned, and Sythe felt quite at home in his temporary residence. Probably in an attempt to replicate the living style of most Keidran houses, the apartment was laid out in such a way that it felt like one gigantic room instead of just the plain, traditional, nothing-to-see-here type Keith was accustomed to. It was hard to discern where exactly one room ended and the other began, because all of the rooms blended seamlessly into each other. Sythe's "bedroom," as an example, consisted of just a section of the apartment where he had a bed, dresser, mirror, and the rest of the standard amenities for such a room. The area wasn't partitioned by a wall or door, and instead led directly into the kitchen area, which in turn led into the common area, where the two diplomats were currently conversing. It was akin to a one-room cabin someone would rent for a vacation, and this particular format happened to be one of the most loved by Keidran homeowners everywhere.

The common area itself featured one large, round table with a vase of orchids placed in the center. The Forest Wolf nation's symbolic flower, presumably set there by the unit's housekeeping staff once they heard that Sythe would be coming. The table was surrounded by four standard wooden chairs, and illuminated by an array of three gas lanterns, hanging a couple of feet above the table by a thick strand of cable. Sythe had all of them lit for the sake of seeing where everything was, but had them dimmed down to about half power to give Mrs. Nibbly less of a hard time sleeping.

"So what do we do then? Just sit and wait patiently for him to make a mistake?" Sythe softly, angrily spouted off as the squirrel curled itself back up.

"Sythe, I have to leave for an appointment with the Wolf King tomorrow, and Natani's coming with me. We don't have time to wait. If we're going to expose Domino, we have to do it before then."

The wolf sighed, walked around the rectangular table and collapsed into his chair heavily, but not loudly enough to reawaken Mrs. Nibbly. "Gods, what a wreck," he muttered.

Keith took his seat as well, mimicking the wolf's movement, trying to be as sympathetic as he could. "Listen, I wouldn't leave you like this if I had a choice, but if I don't go, then we both lose."

"I get that, and I understand it," Sythe nodded, undoing the top couple of buttons on his shirt. "But Domino picked one hell of a time to show himself."

"Which is why I need you to stay here, keep an eye on him and make sure things don't get any worse than they already are," Keith calmly instructed.

"That doesn't change the fact that this plan still hinges on whether or not we go to war," Sythe pointed out, gently petting the sleeping squirrel as he spoke. "Because if we do, nobody's going to want to hear a thing I have to say. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if I end up getting deported because of this."

"Nobody's getting deported, Sythe," Keith responded, recalling as much as he could of the labyrinthine Basitin legal code. "You are a verified diplomat and spokesperson for a sovereign nation and, because you know me, also a friend of the state. That alone is enough to keep you from getting thrown out of here."

"Alright, fine," Sythe agreed, his primary concern dealt with by what was effectively three phrases of law. "I'll keep tabs on him for you, make sure he doesn't try anything while you're gone."

"That's all I ask, my friend," Keith nodded.

Sythe transitioned from petting the squirrel to scratching her spine with his index finger. "Should I be worried about Domino trying to come after me?" he anxiously asked. Another valid concern. If he managed to get his attention, though he was doubtful he would, then he needed to know what to expect.

"I don't think he will," Keith replied. "He's crazy, but not a violent crazy. If he comes after you, it's probably because you did something to threaten him."

"...so, keep a sword with me?"

"Just in case, yes," the Basitin advised, just before a muffled "Get your hands off of me!" leaked through Sythe's front door, in a voice the both of them recognized.

The door started to shake as the visitor started to pound on it, but Keith had risen and opened the door about halfway through the sequence. He was instead greeted by two people, more specifically Natani, being dragged along by the scruff of her neck by a young, rookie member of the Basitin night watch.

"General Keiser, sir?" the officer addressed as professionally as he could manage while still trying to wrangle Natani under control.

"What are you doing to my traveling partner, Private?" Keith sternly inquired, displeased by how Natani was currently being handled. He'd normally try to start out conversations with his inferiors a bit more nicely than this, but extenuating circumstances prevailed. He was actually more curious as to why Natani was even letting this happen to begin with. Probably didn't want to add "assaulting a city guard" to her list, he figured.

"I found him sneaking around in the Trade District, sir. He asked to speak with you directly," he answered, as he continued to fight against his wily captive. "Would've just locked him up, but he told me exactly where you were, it looks like."

"Okay then," Keith acknowledged. "So, why is he still in your custody?"

"Sir, this Keidran was breaking curfew, and..."

"Private, you know who that wolf is, correct?"

"Yes, sir. He arrived with you on your ship. Still..."

Keith put up a hand to shush him as he used the other one to dig through his pocket and retrieve a well-worn brown leather wallet out from under it. He flipped it open with one hand, then searched it for the neatly folded white paper hiding in the main compartment. He pulled it out between his first two fingers and held it front of his face. "Let me show you something, Private," he quietly stated, handing over the paper to the guard.

The guard gave Natani another controlling yank on her shirt as he unfolded the paper with his free hand and started to read it. There was a mess of legal talk on it, all written down in a rather haphazard manner, and he had to squint in a few spots to make it out clearly.

"Do you know what that is?" Keith continued questioning the watchman.

"I...can't say that I do, sir," the guard replied, handing the paper back to Keith.

"That, Private, is a certificate of diplomatic immunity handed down from the desk of King Adelaide," Keith clarified, refusing the paper with an intense glare. "Don't hand that back to me!" he commanded angrily. "Read the first line of the fifth paragraph there."

The guard quickly panned down for paragraph five and started reciting it for the general. "This document absolves the above individual of any reasonable but necessary offenses that he or she may have committed during their time at the Basidian Isles, as well as any of his or her party members." He slowed down as he read the last clause of that sentence, Natani still fighting to get the guard to let go.

Keith paused to let him think about what he just read and then took a step forward out of the doorway, into the clear darkness of the island's night. "Do you understand what that sentence means?" he softly seethed, briefly looking at Natani, as if he was dropping a hint for the guard to pick up on.

"Y-yes, sir," the watchman stuttered.

Keith nodded. "Do you understand why I am so angry you're treating my partner like you are right now?"

"Y-y-yes."

"Yes, what?"

"Y-yes, sir!"

The general took one more step towards the now very nervous night guard and clapped a gloved hand on his shoulder. "And do you understand," he asked a third time, quietly, but gradually increasing in volume. "That if you don't let that wolf go in the next two seconds, I'll have you cited for disobeying a direct command from a superior officer?!" he boomed.

The watchman instinctually released his grip on the wolf, and Natani dashed inside Sythe's residence the moment he did so, leaving the beleaguered guard by himself with a furious general staring him down.

"Have a good night, Private," Keith spat, turning back to the door and forcefully slamming it behind him, inadvertently waking Mrs. Nibbly again. Natani fell into the chair facing away from it, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Thanks," she nodded to Keith, mentally kicking herself for making such a rookie mistake. Then again, she effectively got boxed in by two moving patrols. There weren't too many assassins who could get out of that situation.

"That shouldn't have happened to you," Keith apologized. "Night watch thinks that they're the top men when it comes that sort of crap, but we all answer to someone."

"Think you overdid it a bit?" Sythe asked as Mrs. Nibbly climbed back up to his shoulder to curl up on it.

"Not at all," the Basitin stated as he reclaimed his seat at the round table. "I take care of my friends. So what are you doing out this late anyways?"

Natani took a deep breath, and got ready to dump almost everything she learned tonight. "Domino's going to bomb Parliament, and I think he might try to set up Sythe in the process."

Shocking news, to be sure, and the entirety of the apartment went as still as a graveyard upon hearing it. It wasn't a standard silence, like standing in an empty room. It felt ominous, tensely eerie, like standing in an empty room but also knowing there's a serial killer on the prowl somewhere.

The second wolf was the first to break it. "Makes sense, I guess," he solemnly commented. "Someone needs to take the fall for it. Why not somebody who's already on bad terms with them?"

"Wait for a second, Sythe," Keith advised, sternly looking at the assassin. "Nat, how and when did you hear about this?"

"Clovis contacted me through the link. He told me what he found, fixed my arm, and then I came right here."

"Again with that mental link stuff, huh?" Sythe skeptically remarked. "And now there's somebody else in there too?"

"Says the guy with the talking squirrel," Natani puffed some air at her hairline.

"Hey, you leave Nibs out of this," Sythe defended. Mrs. Nibbly offered up a squeak in her name as well.

"Unusual methods of communication aside, we have a lead on Domino now," Keith interrupted. "Granted, it involves billions of gold worth of damage if we play it wrong, but it's still a lead."

"And a dangerous one," Sythe added, turning back to Natani. "Do you know when this might happen?"

"Zen has the bomb's blueprints, and he doesn't think it'll be ready until tomorrow," Natani informed the ambassadors.

"He doesn't  _think_?" Sythe repeated uncertainly.

"My brother is one of the best alchemists I know, and I trust that he knows what he's saying, but everything has error in it."

"Tomorrow is still a good timeline, though," Keith stated. "I can get the security in Parliament ramped up for that day."

"Make sure nobody gets into the basement, either," Natani advised. "That's probably where the bombsite's going to be."

"I'll get it done," the Basitin confirmed, standing up and straightening his uniform. "We'll have plenty of time to contain and deny Domino any windows to attack. This ends..."

Keith's speech, which sounded like it was turning out to be quite heroic, was cut off by a sound he didn't think he would ever by cut off by: a squeaky cart wheel. One in very dire need of lubricant, considering how it penetrated through a tightly shut door and some remarkably sturdy walls from a street at least ten meters away. A small tinkling sound inched its way through as well, like a tiny bell ringing along with the cart.

Keith sighed and walked over to the apartment's front window with puzzled curiosity. "What in the world is a merchant doing out after curfew?" he asked aloud as he peered out the window. Indeed, the sounds were emanating from a traveling salesman's cart, the contents inside covered up by a large square cut of burlap, squeaking and bouncing along the paved road as it was pulled along by...

A grey-furred Basitin with deep brown eyes, who paused in the lantern-lit street to look right at the window of Sythe's apartment. The two stared at each other through the glass, trying to recognize the other, until the Basitin with the cart acted first. He pointed his forefinger at Keith, with the thumb raised, winked, and fired it like a gun, all while toothily grinning and presumably making a  _click_  sound with his tongue. He then turned away and continued to tug the cart down the Keidran District's main road.

* * *

 

Chapter 20

"It's Domino," Keith muttered, stepping away from the window and drawing a curtain over it.

"You're sure?" Sythe's eyes widened.

"Positive. I saw him and he saw me," Keith replied. "He was pulling a cart behind him for some reason too."

"Did you see what was in it?" Natani inquired.

"He had it covered, so no," the Basitin answered. "I have no idea what he could be moving..." He stopped himself short as he started to draw the obvious conclusion from his sighting. He licked his lips, embarrassed that he didn't see this immediately.

"All together now," Keith ordered as he raised his arms like he was conducting an orchestra.

"It's the bomb," all three of the apartment's occupants chimed in, judging Keith's lapse in deduction. Even the squirrel disappointedly squeaked in tune with the rest of the choir.

"So much for your brother's timeline," Sythe grumbled, standing up from the table. "No problem, though. We can just head out, rip off the illusion, and..."

"...arrest him for breaking curfew?" Keith countered. "Because right now, that's really the only thing we can prove he's done so far. He spends the night in prison and he just tries again the next day, while Nat and I are at sea."

"Then we search the cart, right?" Sythe pressed. "People generally don't walk around with carts loaded with explosives. Someone has to know something's up with that!"

"Let us know when you find someone on this island that knows how Forest Wolves make bombs," Natani cynically remarked. "He can probably get it passed as contraband if he tried hard enough."

Sythe slammed his hands onto the table, digging into it with his claws. Mrs. Nibbly jumped off his shoulder in fright and somehow landed on his head. "How hard can it possibly be to catch one damn mercenary on this island?"

"It's called proof, Sythe, of which we have none!" Keith sternly remanded. "If we want our case against him to stand up at all, what we need to do is catch him in the act. Otherwise, this isn't anything more than just throwing words at him and hoping a jury thinks we're telling the truth. Which, if we're being perfectly honest, they probably aren't."

"That doesn't mean he's not a suspect. If we were in my country, we'd be detaining him right now!"

"Except we aren't in your country. We're in mine, so whatever we do gets played by my rules. And they say that we need evidence first."

Sythe bared his teeth and turned to his counterpart on the other side of the table. "Natani, come on. Back me up here. You know how we work."

Natani didn't respond, not immediately. She was looking down at the table, contemplatively, silently.

"Natani?" Sythe repeated.

Instead, the assassin turned her head back to the general. "Keith, you said we need proof before we can take him in front of a court?" she quietly asked.

Keith nodded, his mood quelled by the relative calmness of his companion. "We just need some way to show people that we aren't making this story up."

Silence again, then Natani huffed and stood up from the table. "Alright then," she stated, looking back up at her friends. "I'll go get it."

"No you're not," Keith objected, moving his cloak aside to unveil his signature longsword. "If someone's going to stop this bastard, it might as well be the guy who he'll see in court. I can handle this."

"Keith, assume the worst for a second and let's say Domino gets away with this," Natani reasoned, straightening out her hood. "If Sythe follows him, he plays right into his hands, and if you go, Sythe doesn't have a cover story. I'm the only one who can do this, because if I fail, at least I won't instigate a war."

"What's to keep him from just turning around and having you take the fall?" Sythe pointed out.

"You say that like he's going to have time to do that," the assassin replied, digging through her mana reserve and dropping three crystals onto the table. "All I have to do is follow him in, get him to tell me what he's up to, and then get out. If we fight, then we fight, but not before the guards arrive and notice him."

Keith opened his mouth against his companion's plan, but Natani wasn't going to hear it. "Save it, Keith. You know this is the best way to do this," she argued, dropping a depleted crystal on the table. She raised a hand over the three charged crystals, again drawing the power out of them in a steady blue vapor, and channeled it into the vacant one. It started to glow red with increasing brightness as the wolf continued work the hearing enchantment.

"Nat, this is risky. Even for you," the Basitin stated. "The night watch apparently doesn't care you're my assistant. So if you get caught in there, I'm not going to be around to bail you out."

"They'll never know I was there."

"The only entrance that'll possibly be open is the front. Domino has the excuse that he's a senator, but they'll arrest you as soon as they see you."

"I'm an assassin, Keith," Natani reminded as she finished her enchantment. "I never believed in front doors." She picked up the newly imbued crystal and tucked it away in her pocket, ready to detect and memorize any noises made around it.

"Again, not to kill the mood or anything, but let's say you fail," Sythe spoke up, trying to sound realistic but not pessimistic either. "We, or at least you two, need a fallback plan. I can stay and try to keep them calm, but you guys need somewhere to go."

"Exactly," Natani responded, tying off the entire bag of crystals and giving it over to Keith. "Hold those for me."

Keith hesitated to take the bag. "Nat, don't you need these?"

"I'm following a terrorist in a large, dark, empty building. The less he sees and hears me, the better."

"What am I supposed to do with these, then?"

"You're going to stay here with Sythe and make sure things don't get any worse than they are. If I get trouble, I'm going to run right back here and get us somewhere safe."

"What's somewhere safe?" Sythe asked.

"With that mana, I can probably get Keith and I to the wolf capital. My place, actually," Natani clarified, checking that the rest of her loadout was readily available.

Mrs. Nibbly squeaked into Sythe's ear, and the wolf nodded back at her. "Yeah, so if you could teleport practically anywhere with a cheap energy supply..."

"It only transports you and the clothes you're wearing. Zen and I don't like to use it except for emergencies."

Keith continued to stare at the pouch, with Natani staring back at him. He felt both compelled to take it and determined not to.

"Take it, Keith," the wolf demanded.

"This is an awful backup plan," the Basitin criticized, not at all satisfied by the fact that he would end up running from a criminal if Natani failed to do anything about him.

"If you have a better one then I would love to hear it."

The two friends continued to stare, leaving Sythe in the very unfortunate position of having to be the one to break the stalemate. Only he wasn't feeling quite up to it. Because that would mean he would need another idea for an escape plan, and he didn't have one at present. So instead, he was forced to simply watch Keith and Natani silently debate, while a very dangerous Keidran stormed the Parliament.

"Just for the record, the more you two sit there staring at that bag, the closer Domino gets to exploding a bomb," he pointed out.

Another second or two of silence ensued, until Keith sighed with concession and snatched the bag out of the assassin's hand. "You better not come back for this," he said, shaking the bag with emphasis.

"I don't intend to," Natani commented, striding past Keith and flipping the hood of her cape up. "No promises, though."

"Right," Keith whispered back, tossing the bag onto the table. Natani gave him one last glance of determination out of the corner of her eye before creaking the door open and instantly dissolved into the dark, clear night, melding into it without a trace as the door was left slightly cracked behind her.

The Basitin sighed again and fell into his chair, resting his head in his arms, once more staring down the ordinary brown sack in front of him.

"No promises."

* * *

 

Domino happily whistled an improvised tune as the cart continued to bounce its way down the road and towards Parliament. The few lamps placed along the stone pathway faintly lit up the correct route there, but neither Domino nor the wolf tailing him needed them, their enhanced night vision proving to be of great use at the time. It was a benefit Natani knew far too well, and she was playing around it cautiously. She tried to stay close enough not to lose sight of Domino, and yet not so close that, if she made any accidental noise, he'd identify her.

The solution came in the urban landscape, and the rooftops. There was a bit of a learning curve, due to the ceramic shingles of the Basitin architecture not having quite the same underfoot texture as the forest boughs Natani and Zen loved to race each other on, but she adapted to it rather quickly. Don't stop moving your feet. Try to stay on the pointed top of the roof. Keep your arms out for balance. All of these quickly became second nature to the assassin as she chased down Domino from above, trailing him slightly behind and off to his right.

The cart took a right hand turn onto the main street. Domino waved to a small patrol of guards passing by, who sharply saluted back at him, untroubled by the lateness of his business.  _Hypocritical_ , Natani said to herself, jumping off one of the upper tiers of the building she was on and landing softly on the lower. She put a hand down to support her landing and muffle the noise she made, then waited a moment to ensure Domino didn't suspect anything. The whistling tune and whining, rattling wheel indicated that he didn't, and Natani proceeded down the rooftop.

Though that turn did indicate that Domino was on the home stretch towards his destination, and soon Natani would not have a place to run to. It wasn't a problem now, and that was still a moderately good distance away, so the wolf put it out of her mind for now. Future worrying would not do her any good at the moment, and Natani had to remind herself of that as she continued to run alongside Domino. No worrying about where she goes next. No worrying about how she's going to get inside the building. And absolutely no worrying about possibly having to defuse a bomb she had never seen before... The wolf stopped for a second, and took a deep breath. No thinking about what she shouldn't be worrying about at the moment either.

She peered down and saw Domino approaching a small intersection. Another paved walkway, illuminated regularly with lanterns, branched off to the left, and it appeared that the mercenary was taking that path. Again, Natani waited for him to pull away while she formulated a new plan for how to follow him. She surveyed the structures on the other side of the road, and found one. Natani slid down the tile roof, gradually gaining speed, then kicked off the edge with one foot as she gracefully leaped off the building. She let herself fall for a second, then, after guarding her face, landed on her toes, rolled over onto her forearms, then her back, and then back to her feet in one fluid motion. The wolf then sprinted towards the building across from her, a general store judging from the sign, and jumped and pulled herself onto the post holding it up. Another small run-up, then she scampered up the wall as far as she could, barely reaching the windowsill just underneath the roof, grabbing it with both hands. Then, summoning the rest of her strength, Natani then grabbed the solidest part of the roof she could find, and slowly hoisted herself up on top of it. She sat down for a moment, panting slightly, then looked down the road to see where Domino was. Not much further ahead, but Natani picked up the pace anyways.

The Parliament building lay just in front of her, if she wasn't mistaken about the front doors. The cart continued to jingle as it bounced down its path, and Natani noticed that hers was about to come to an end as well. She quickly examined her options. This path to the Parliament's front doors, or at least near the end, were flanked by long, white rose bushes, starting at about where Natani's building ended. She could keep low behind them and then follow them around to the side of Parliament. Begin infiltration.

Domino stopped abruptly, unexpectedly. The cart creaked as it slowed down, and the joyful dinging of the little bell died out. Natani had to skid to a halt on the tile rooftop in response. Whatever Domino was doing...

He started to turn back over his shoulder. Natani's heart jumped a few beats, uncertain of what action to take. What should have felt like a moment of pure instinct instead turned into an eternity of fear-inducing chaos as the wolf struggled to find the correct response. The bushes were too far out, the far side of the roof would make too much noise...

She felt one of her feet slip, and reactively fell onto her stomach, trying to rebalance herself in some way. But it was over. Domino would for sure notice her on the roof now. He finished the rotation, now directly eyeing the building she lay prone on. Natani took one final breath in before she was detected, and held it.

Domino examined it for at least a minute, and Natani could have sworn her hair went grey at some point down the line. The disguised mercenary finally turned back to Parliament and slowly started to squeak the rickety cart away.

Natani heavily exhaled as she rose back to a crouching position. That was the last time she would ever cut it that close with tracking this jerk. At least she'd be able to get off the rooftops soon, as she closed in on the long rosebushes.

She finally reached the end of her roof, and she draped both feet off of the edge and gracefully landed on the area behind the bushes, a soft grassy area. Domino either didn't hear her land or brushed it aside as ambiance. In either case, Natani maintained a low profile and continued to stalk her target, as Domino finally finished approaching the front gates.

Two guards were standing at the ready at the front doors to greet him, both carrying a torch in one hand and a spear in the other. The one on the left started the formalities. "Evening, Senator. What are you up to so late?" he inquired as Natani continued stealthily through the roses.

"Good evening to you as well, Cohen," Domino cheerfully responded, pointing a thumb at his cargo. "I had a few things I wanted to bring down to the basement. Needed to do it sooner than later."

"Right now, though?" the other guard asked, walking over to the cart and hovering a torch over it. "It couldn't wait for later?"

"Look, um," Domino started, scratching his head. "I don't know if you guys heard yet, but General Keiser's birthday is tomorrow."

"Is it now?" the second guard nodded approvingly.

_No it isn't_ , Natani disgustedly thought.  _Unless tomorrow is code for two months ago._

"Yeah, and I wanted to bring this stuff down before then, get a surprise party set up."

"This is a lot of set up for just a surprise party," the guard called Cohen noted.

"Hey, the General's turning thirty. Nice, round multiple of ten there. Kind of a big deal, eh?"

The second guard nodded his agreement and returned to his post. "If this was anyone else, I'd say it sounds suspicious as all hell."

"But, since I'm a senator..." Domino urged. "Please? Just this once?"

The two guards looked at each other for a second, then stepped aside as they pushed open the doors. "As long as you promise to keep the noise down, alright? No need to startle the guys in there," Cohen advised as Domino started to work the cart through the gap. "There's a cargo lift in West Wing if you need help moving that."

"Will do," Domino smiled with a wave to the doormen. "Oh, and feel free to come down tomorrow as well. Everyone in Parliament's invited."

"Really?" the second guard asked enthusiastically.

"Yes! By all means, swing by whenever you're off duty," Domino invited as the Basitins shut the door behind him.

"It'll be a blast," he commented, with a click of his tongue.

* * *

 

Chapter 21

Natani waited for the low, booming  _bang_  before continuing onward, behind the bushes. They fortunately led directly to the front doors, albeit a few feet short in front of it. A paved pathway branched off to the left, likely to the courtyard. She deduced that would be the best way to get in.

She stopped just behind the end of her bush to watch the two doormen out front for a moment. The two Basitin soldiers became statues at their post, standing perfectly at attention, eyes focused directly, singularly on the road before them.

Which meant that, as long as Natani stayed in the shadows, they likely wouldn't notice. She examined the courtyard walkway again. Much like the main road, apart from a few sparsely placed lanterns the path was dark enough to conceal her presence. She'd follow it down and find a way in from there. She nodded to herself in acceptance of that plan.

But first, she had to get around those two. Seemed simple enough, though. Natani dropped to her stomach and crawled her way out from behind the bush to the first dark section of the pathway, once more thankful that the Basitin landscaping team was partial to sod instead of gravel. The wolf turned her head to keep the guards in her line of sight as she moved, trying to anticipate if and when they would turn and notice her.

The cool, hard sensation of concrete inched up her hand, and she allowed herself to come back up to a crouching position now that she was acceptably concealed. She still spied on the guards as she walked backwards down the path, the Basitins out front growing smaller with each step, then disappearing behind a thick black bar, the outer wall of Parliament. With no way to see her now, Natani turned around and carefully, stealthily proceeded towards the courtyard.

Natani took cover behind the interior wall of the courtyard, and peeked through the archway through which the path cut. She needed a few minutes to ensure that there no patrols were present, and swung around through the archway after she confirmed that there weren't. This time, she stood herself up all the way and sprinted across the blackened gardens, trying to adhere to the path as much as possible. She found the far end of the courtyard speedily, and the secondary doors leading inside as well. She also saw the yellow, lit window next to the doors, a very easy way to be seen. She fell onto her right leg and used the momentum she had gained to slide just underneath it, out of sight of anybody who could possibly be inside.

But, just to make sure, the wolf leaned up and quietly peered in through the window. She turned her head both ways, trying to make as much use of her vantage point as possible, and was relieved to see that the adjoining hallway was vacant.

Which meant that she could now focus on the doors. Though not nearly as fancy as the front, and not nearly as accessible as the front either, the Basitins still took care to chain a heavy padlock onto the doors, barring the wolf from simply entering from the outside. She suspected as much, and reached for the inside pocket of her cloak, extracting a small metal lockpick. She placed it inside the upper half of the padlock, while she unsheathed one of her smaller throwing knives as well and slid it into the lower section.

_I hope I remember how to do this,_  she thought to herself as she gave the blade a clockwise twist. It made about a quarter of a rotation before Natani started to feel unnecessary, unwanted tension in the thin, metal pick, and immediately backed off. She tried it again, this time with the lockpick offset slightly to the right, allowing it to punch the tumbler upward. She twisted the knife once more, hoping that her calculations were correct.

Her reward was the satisfying  _ka-chunk_  as the shackle disengaged from the chain, and Natani hastily undid the Basitin's security, tossing the now obsolete chain down to the ground. She checked the window again. Still nothing, the signal for Natani to officially begin infiltration. Quietly, she pushed the door open, crept into the long hallway, and silently pushed it shut behind her.

Now, for the stairs. The hard part, as strange as it sounded. Really, a route down to the lowest level of a building should not be that difficult to plan out, but the interior of Parliament was comparable to that of their law system: about as straightforward as cold spaghetti. So that meant the first part of finding Domino in here would be solely guesswork. Natani sighed and looked left and right down the hallway. Randomly, she decided left would be the best option, and turned to proceed.

" _I think your time would be better spent going right,_ " a voice echoed, causing Natani to jump and immediately dart to cover behind one of the hallway's alcoves. She breathed heavily, checking as many corners as she could for incoming patrols. None ever came, and Natani finally started to relax, recover from that snap reaction.

Actually, what was that voice from anyways? If nobody saw her, and if nobody was coming her way, then what did she hear? She put a hand to her head and took another deep breath.

" _I'm sorry, did I spook you?_ " the voice spoke up again. It sounded much clearer this time, and this time Natani managed to keep herself from panicking again. But she did become noticeably more furious as she finally found out what the source of that noise was.

"Clovis, what the hell are you doing?" she angrily barked at the top of her lungs.

" _Volume,_ " Clovis reminded, and the wolf slapped two hands over her mouth once she realized what her mistake was. Again, no alerts. She exhaled again and snuck out of the alcove, down the other direction the hallway led.

" _And to answer your question, I completely forgot I could track both ends of that link with you and your brother,_ " Clovis continued. " _I noticed that you were in Parliament tailing our...friend, so I thought I'd come by and lend a hand._ "

"By jumpscaring me and almost blowing my cover?"

" _I'd argue you did that to yourself, actually._ "

"Look, if you want to guide me, fine. But shut up and just give me directions."

" _You know those two orders are mutually exclusive, right?_ "

"You know what, screw this," Natani grumbled with annoyance as she took a sharp left at the hallway's end. "Where's Zen? Put him on."

" _I gave him the night off. He needed to talk with one of his friends,_ " the half-fox responded. " _I'll also point out I'm the only one with a map now._ "

The wolf sighed as she continued deeper into the building. Dependency on Clovis was one thing she did not need more of in her life. But it was either that or wander the Parliament's insides without any sense of direction and hope Domino doesn't blow her up in the process.

She approached another junction in the hallway. "Alright, fine. You can track me," she hesitantly permitted.

" _Brilliant!_ " Clovis cheered, clapping his hands together in the background. " _Right here, by the way._ "

Natani stuck to the hybrid's advice, and pressed her back to the wall as she slid down it. She came to yet another intersection, with another corridor branching off to the left. She peered around the corner cautiously, and then darted right back once she spotted the two-man patrol at the far end of the hallway. They didn't seem to move, they were just standing around, chatting to each other in a manner that became unintelligible from Natani's distance.

She peeked again, trying to better understand the layout of the hallway. There were multiple rooms branching off on both sides of the corridor, likely senatorial offices, each shut off by a red stained wood door with a fogged glass window in the center. and the Basitins at the end were stationed in front of a very nicely hand painted portrait of King Adelaide, probably at the lack of a better item to be guarding at the moment. And then, about halfway through the right side, spiraling downwards into the floor...

" _And there's your stairs,_ " Clovis identified.

"Those guards might end up seeing me, though," Natani returned, removing another throwing knife and swiftly switching sides to the other half of the hallway entrance.

" _Let's give them something else to look at, then,_ " Clovis encouragingly stated as Natani spun the blade around and gripped it between her first two fingers. Another peek, and she readied to throw the blade.

She inhaled. Focused. Then flung the knife towards one of the windowed doors, ducking back behind the corner just before the glass exploded fantastically behind her, a lovably spectacular  _crash_  reverberating up and down the corridor.

Needless to say, both guards were immediately alerted by the noise, and it sounded like one of them might have dropped his sword for an instant out of surprise. Both of them jogged over to the disruption, moaned and gasped at the magnitude of the damage for a second, and then one of them opened the door to further inspect the mess.

Natani turned the corner once more. Both Basitins were in the office, fully engrossed by the mysterious accident and what could have done this. Both of their backs to her, Natani then slipped out from her cover, shuffled quickly by the now open-faced office, and then swung around to the staircase, hastily pacing down towards the basement level.

" _Nicely done,_ " Clovis remarked, impressed.

"Hopefully Domino didn't hear that one," she whispered as she raced down the stairwell.

Clovis didn't respond immediately, like he was checking something. " _I think one of them is sending for backup. They found the knife you threw._ "

"Good, it'll keep them occupied while I deal with Domino," the wolf replied as the staircase made way for flatter terrain. It was a small, empty area before two standard wooden doors. Behind those lay the basement to Basitin Parliament.

The target area. Natani took a deep breath in, trying to calm her heart, her mind. Her eyes seemed to flash intensely for a split second before she powerfully walked to the doors and tossed them open, like they were made of cardboard, entering the Parliament's expansive underground level.

Of course, being built onto the side of a hill, the basement area wasn't completely built into the earth, and the large glass windows reaching from the bottom of the floor to the top of the elevated ceiling provided plenty of natural light for the huge room beneath. A few braziers lay scattered across the basement in case more lighting was needed, but the full moon and clear night sky proved to be more than ample for the occasion. Like Clovis had mentioned earlier, six thick pillars, placed about twenty meters apart from each other, rose out of the ground and carried the entire weight of the building above it. They also appeared to be decorated with murals, wrapping themselves around every bit of area. It was hard to tell what they were attempting to depict, thanks to the color distorting moonlight, but just like everything else on the island, it was taken care of and proudly displayed in the only way the Basitins knew how.

Natani strode into the basement, and passed the first row of pillars. The silhouette of two pointed ears and a gently wagging tail off to the right told her everything she needed to know about Domino. She also identified the cart, despite the burlap sack being removed, and its now unveiled contents. Clovis and Zen kept using the word "bomb" around her like there would be only one. But the cart carried a number of small yellow parcels instead, each outfitted in a black cloth harness with a softly glowing deep green crystal embedded into the center. He walked back over to his cart to grab two of the packages, then returned to the pillar the cart was parked in front off. Natani continued to approach him, listening to him softly talk to himself in the meantime.

"There we are, making sure everything is perfect. An explosive package for you," he sang as he planted one of the bombs on the pillar's base, watching it adhere to it like glue, then giving it a small tug to make sure it was stuck.

"And an explosive package for you. Everybody gets one," he pranced around to the other side to plant the second parcel. Natani now stood at the cart, semi-interestedly looking at the bombs inside. She didn't really care if Domino saw her; they were going to have to fight in any case. May as well let him have his fun before she gutted him where he stood.

"Five to go!" Domino melodically announced as he proudly walked back to the cart. He didn't even seem to mind that Natani was waiting for him there either, and simply waltzed right past her, in his lupine form, giving her a friendly wave as he strolled by. "Evening, Natani! Want to help me with the fireworks?"

"You can stop right there, Domino. Game's over," Natani growled as she yanked out a knife and spun it in her hand.

"I  _can_  stop, yes. But, I don't think I'm going to," Domino smirked as he pulled out two more parcels and casually glanced at the assassin. His eyes widened slightly. "Good Gods, woman. How many of those things do you have?" he asked with exasperation as he took the explosives over to the second pillar.

"Domino, enough with the bombs," the assassin tried to talk the mercenary down. She didn't have nearly as much experience in this sort of scenario as some like Keith would have. But maybe she could find a way to stop this peacefully first. Natani saw Domino now as a dead or alive contract, and she was in need of the bonus.

"We both know why I'm not giving myself up right now," Domino laughed as he stuck a bomb to the side of the pillar.

"You expect me to honor our bet?"

"Next time we met, right?" Domino confirmed as he danced around to the other side, his back to Natani again. "I think this counts. I'll be with you in a second."

" _...I'll hand it to him. If he's going to be a terrorist, he may as have some fun with it._ "

"Doesn't make him any less of a threat," Natani muttered.

"Who you talking to, Natani?" Domino asked, bouncing up from his bomb plant. "Actually, no, let me get that," he kindly offered, holding up a deep purple, almost black crystal in the air.

" _Now what does he think..._ " was all Natani heard Clovis say before Domino crushed the crystal in his hand and the mental link went dead silent.

Natani put a hand to the side of her head. "Clovis? Clovis?"

"It's okay, Natani," Domino crooned, looking at her almost sympathetically in a way. "I hate it when voices get into my head too."

"What have you done?" Natani snarled, tightening her grip on her knife.

"Just killed your link for a little bit," Domino clarified, reaching behind him for a leather knife sheath. "Don't worry, it'll be back in a while. I just don't want you to get distracted is all."

Domino yanked out the bloodied blade from that afternoon and inspected it once more with fascinated exaltation. "Yes, I would like nothing but the best from you tonight."

"I don't want to kill you like this," Natani threatened.

"You don't have to," Domino reminded, pointing at Natani's blood with a smile. "The moment I lose this, my plans are called off, remember?"

Natani exhaled deeply and took up an aggressive fighting stance, the Wolven standard suite, holding her blade in front of her. She didn't like her chances of avoiding conflict now.

Domino laughed as he flipped the knife over his hand and caught it again. "Now that's better," he smirked, as he prepared himself as well. "So, shall we begin?"

Natani huffed. Domino clicked his tongue.

And the two wolves charged at each other. Natani's knife was pointed for Domino's abdomen. His for Natani's right shoulder. It was a game of chicken. The first person to block was the first one on the defensive. Natani blinked first, and raised her blade to parry her adversary's strike. She then spun around, trying to get a blow in on Domino's side. Domino replied with an expertly timed half turn and slid the attack away from behind the back.

"Sorry to interrupt," Domino scoffed as he tossed the blade from his right hand to his left and began to strike back. "But I can take this as a 'no' for you joining me, right?"

Natani parried each blow as it arrived, save for the last. She dodged her head to the right, allowing her to take a slice at the underside of the mercenary's arm. It hit, and Domino yelped as the steel broke through his skin. He paused to examine his wound, watching a red stream form and run down his arm, then turned back to Natani, sinisterly grinning.

"That's what I thought," he remarked, giving his new wound a small lick to tend to it.

Had this been anybody else, Natani would have gutted Domino right here for letting himself drop his guard like this. She would have loved to sink her knife right into his heart and end her problems right here. Only she couldn't, and Domino was acting like he knew it as well. He was teasing her. He knew she wasn't going to kill him since the Basitins would never let her live it down. With no evidence against him and no contract on his head, it was murder in the first degree, and he was using it all to his advantage.

Natani charged him again regardless. She wasn't going to kill him, but he had to at least be subdued. The cut was placed there for that reason specifically. She wasn't going to spill all of his blood, but just enough to knock him out.

Domino readied his blade again just in time to knock away the first of the assassin's strikes. The second. The third. The fourth was a top to bottom swing, a reckless but surely devastating attack would it find its mark. Domino merely sidestepped out of its way. Natani growled in frustration and sliced back up, prompting a small jump backwards from her foe.

And she didn't realize that she left her entire arm exposed until Domino grabbed it, swept her feet out from under her with a kick, and then flipped her over his head, slamming her back first onto the hard tile flooring. He knelt over the assassin, pointing the bloodied blade at her throat with one hand, pinning her knife hand to the ground with the other.

"Drop it," he ordered nicely. After a couple seconds of Natnai declining to obey, he went for slamming her wrist onto the tile instead. Natani's grip on the knife disintegrated bit by bit with each blow, until it finally jiggled free.

"Good girl," he whispered, stepping on Natani's hand while he tossed the freed blade off to the side of the basement. He looked down at Natani, eye to eye, smirking superiorly over his bested enemy. He savored every second he could to its fullest.

"Well?" Natani demanded, breathing heavily. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"I was, but I promised the General I'd do something special with you," Domino confessed. "And frankly, that last part was kind of bland for my taste."

He looked up pensively, resting his muzzle in his free hand, scratching himself under the chin. "Now, what can we do together is the question. Ice cream, maybe? Nah, not this late. And someone of your physique probably shouldn't be eating that anyways. Hmm, this is tough."

His ears flipped up as he caught sound of clanking armor hastily running down the stairwell Natani barged out of earlier. He turned his head curiously and watched a lantern-toting Basitin enter the room, then watched his eyes grow in horrified confusion to the scene before him. "What the hell is going on here?" he barked, raising the lantern to better see the wolves.

Domino answered with a devious, sinister smile, similar to the one Natani had typically seen Clovis with. Only this was dishearteningly malicious to boot. "Natani, I think I just got an idea," he softly informed her as he reached for another holster on the side of his trousers.

He finally turned to address the guard, not letting up on his pin. "Sir, your timing could not be any better," Domino stated with a smile.

"Why?" the guard demanded. "What's..." was the last word he could say before Domino yanked out his pistol and placed a shot right between the Basitin's eyes.

* * *

 

Chapter 22

"Hold that for me. Please and thanks," Domino coolly requested as he placed the gun onto Natani's chest and stood up to search the body. He didn't need to restrain the assassin any more. The stunned, horrified expression on her face said everything he needed to hear. All Natani could do was gawk at the downed guard, watch the lantern's shattered flame ignite the pooling oil, creating a small fire patch next to Domino's latest victim.

The mercenary started patting down the body, presumably searching for any hidden pouches or supplies he could use. He did find a small coin bag, which he immediately cut open and drained into his own, before tossing it into the small puddle of flames.

Natani had the willpower to pick her head up and examine the pistol Domino had left on her chest. She shakily picked it up with her right hand, slowly rolled back the hammer, and gently aimed it towards Domino.

"Nice try, Natani. But I only keep one shot in there for a reason."

Natani pulled the trigger anyways. Instead of the loud, spark-flying  _bang_  she expected, she received a disheartening, almost mocking  _click_  as the hammer harmlessly tapped the back of the chamber.

"What's wrong with you?" she yelled at him, throwing the gun defiantly back at him. "He was innocent!"

"Maybe," Domino responded. "But I just gave him a new purpose."

"You killed him, you bastard!"

"That I did, and I'm sure more are on the way," Domino continued walking back over to his cart. "So unfortunately, I need to head out for now. But I'm sure you can probably tell them what all this is about, right?"

Natani willed herself back to her feet, still traumatized by the dire actions Domino had taken. She took one shaky step towards the wolf. Another. A third, more rapidly this time. Her speed increased from a walk to a faster walk, to a run, to a full sprint at the mercenary. She wrapped both arms around him and tackled him onto the cold tile, his arms resting above his head.

"We really need to work on your people skills, don't we?" Domino shook his head.

"Yeah, you'll need to also," Natani snarled. "What I didn't say was that I was recording this little talk, just like you did at the hearing."

Domino scoffed, impressed by Natani's handiwork. "Learned from the best I see."

"If I'm going down, you're coming with me," Natani forcefully stated, checking over her shoulder at the stairs. A soft orange light was now seen in the chamber, gradually expanding as the onslaught of Basitins inside the Parliament rushed towards the gunshot. Keith might not be here to support, but with the evidence on the crystal, there was no way she would be in custody for long.

"Oh, you put it into an empty mana crystal. Clever girl," the wolf remarked. Natani wasn't sure what prompted that comment, until she looked back down at him. Somehow, he was holding the recording crystal in his hand, admiring it. Natani would have checked her pockets to make sure hers was still there, but she knew they had been picked. She made a grab for the crystal, but Domino simply batted her hand away, dropped the crystal onto the floor, and pounded it with his fist, shattering it into countless bits and pieces.

Natani heart sunk as she watched her hard-earned evidence be destroyed in such a primitive manner. Domino started laughing, heartily, dominantly, knowing he was in control all along. Natani grabbed his shirt collar and pulled his head up close to hers. "This doesn't change a thing," she growled. "Someone's going to be responsible for this."

Domino set both of his hands behind his back, fiddling with his back pocket. He gave Natani one more smirk. "To which I say, lanuae domum," he replied, then vanished into blue vapor instantaneously.

Natani's hands went empty as the mercenary vanished, and she punched the floor in frustration. She didn't even see where he was keeping his mana, either. It was like Domino had all of this planned from the start, which was obviously not true considering what he just did. And Natani fell for it all the way.

The wolf stopped the inner scolding session and tried to think about what happened. What did she know? It was likely teleported considering the words of power he used. Actually, she knew that spell. It was used for transport, and brought the user "home," wherever he set up a waypoint for the spell prior. So, if Domino went home, then...

"Oy! Over there!" a voice screamed from the stairwell. Natani peered over to it and saw a swarm of Basitin guards flooding through into the basement. Some of them checked the dead guard for vitals. Others inspected the bombs stuck on the sides of the pillars. Most of them pointed fingers at Natani and readied their weapons, mostly spears and swords.

"Wolf! Don't move! You're under arrest!" one of the soldiers yelled, as the mob slowly, cautiously approached her. "Put your hands up and lie down!"

"Dammit," Natani swore as she quickly looked around the room. Maybe she should have taken some of the mana with her when she left. There weren't any vents, doors or other hiding spots, and Basitins continued to pour in from the stairwell in front of her. The phalanx continued to move towards her, and the wolf started to run out of ideas.

Save for one. "Wolf! Get on the ground, now!" the soldier repeated.

Natani did exactly the opposite, and bolted for one of the large windows behind her instead. The plan was going to hurt, but it was either this, or get arrested for something she had nothing to do with but couldn't prove otherwise. She ran directly at one of the larger panes, about her size, and covered her eyes with the lower part of her arm, elbow protruding towards the pane.

Then, one loud tinkling  _crash_  later, she found herself running down the hillside and back towards the main road, sparkling, flashing glass shards raining down in front of her like glitter. She felt one bite into her arm, but she experienced a more relieved feeling instead, knowing that could have landed in a worse spot.

Natani lowered her arm again as she raced down the hill and hit the road. She knew exactly where to go. The only problem was finding the time to escape. She checked over her shoulder out of curiosity. As suspected, the guards were not going to let her go easily, as many of them jumped out of the new hole in Parliament and quickly joined the pursuit. Natani considered taking to the roofs again, but with the guards already chasing her like they were, she probably would have made herself even more conspicuous. Oh well. They were a good distance behind anyways.

The wolf didn't let up, however, as she continued to bolt down the empty streets back to Sythe's apartment. Maybe if she led her pursuers back to Keith, he could clear all of this up and she'd be able to keep chasing Domino. But then she also remembered that they likely saw her as a murder suspect, and as reputable as Keith was, he'd have a difficult time trying to explain how the death of a Basitin soldier would, in any way, be considered reasonable or necessary. On the other hand, if she was going to have a problem, she might as well have a problem that someone else knows about.

Two more guards unexpectedly walked out of an alley a few feet in front of her, and noticed her almost immediately. "Hey, get back to your house!" one of them ordered. "Curfew's..."

"I don't care!" Natani hollered as she continued to dash towards the patrol. The second guard pulled his sword out, the one most directly in Natani's path, but the wolf managed to get by. She grabbed the collar of the Basitin's armor, then rolled herself onto his back and flawlessly vaulted over the befuddled guardsman, losing no momentum in the transition.

Of course, that meant that there were now two more members in the mob behind her, and she could also check off "breaking curfew" on the list of infractions against her now. Frankly she had no intentions of ever tending to them. The worst kind of debt, in her opinion, was one that she wasn't liable for. And if Domino honestly expected her to serve his time for a murder she wasn't involved with, she'd have a few words to say to him before she finally caught him and turned him over to the Basitins.

Natani looked at the buildings to her left and right. They began to share a few similarities to Sythe's building, an indication she was coming up on the Keidran District. Another look back. Somehow she let her pace slip, as the mob slowly crept back up to her. She already felt out of breath, unsure of how much longer she could manage this level of exertion before she had to stop.

No, she scolded herself. You will not stop. You're dead if you stop. Keep going. Faster. There's Sythe's street on the right. Turn now. Alright, now he's in the big apartment building on the left. Good thing he's on the ground floor. Found it, just up ahead.

She got to the door and started to pound on it urgently. "Keith! Open the door! Now!" she yelled. She turned to the road's intersection, the eerie orange glow of torches signaling the mob's presence.

"Keith!" she cried, hitting the door as fast and as hard as she could. She thought she would punch a hole through it before it opened for her.

The door finally jumped open and Natani rushed inside. Sythe and Mrs. Nibbly were likely snoozing just before Natani arrived, as the both of them looked like they just woke up. Sythe grumpily sat himself up properly in his chair, while Keith peered out of the door, eyes wide, trying to figure out what in the world could have happened.

"Shut the door, dammit! They're after me!" the wolf barked, snatching the bag of mana off of Sythe's table. Keith jumped at the outburst and promptly obeyed.

"What the hell did you do?" Sythe demanded, trying to foil his counterpart's emotions, trying to stay calm.

"Domino's gone, I'm framed for murder, and the entire Basitin police is out to get me!" Natani hurriedly explained as she peered inside the bag. "Good, there's enough here."

"Enough for what?" Keith asked as he tried to look out the apartment window. He'd seen Natani rile people up before, but never quite to this large a degree. He was actually worried for once.

"We're leaving."

"Like, now?" the Basitin confusedly inquired.

"Domino teleported back to the capital. We're going there and putting an end to this," Natani explained as she readied the crystals for casting.

Keith blinked pensively, then turned to his companion. "Go then. Sythe and I'll stay here and..."

"No, you're going too," Sythe asserted, with Mrs. Nibbly squeaking compliance. "You brought Natani here, and they're going to think you're trying to keep him safe if they find you."

"They wouldn't do that. Nat wouldn't try something like this. I wouldn't have brought him here if I thought different."

A muffled voice came from outside. "Search these buildings! Make sure he doesn't get away!"

Sythe pointed at the mana the assassin was speedily preparing. "You're already in enough crap as it is with you being associated with him. You let him onto the island, and now they think he was trying to blow it up. You need to go just as bad as Natani does!"

"Sythe, I'm staying here. I can protect him!"

The door vibrated as the watch knocked on it, hard. "This is the watch. Open the door."

"Keith, it's ready!" Natani announced.

"I'm not going, Natani!" Keith asserted.

"The hell you aren't!" Sythe snarled. "You can either stay here, and leave Natani alone with a terrorist while you run out the clock with the ceasefire, or you can go with him right now and end this damn war! Now, which one is it going to be?"

Keith lost his words, if there was ever a good time for that to happen.

"We're breaking it open now!" the watch warned from outside.

"Keith?!" Natani yelled, starting to panic slightly.

The Basitin clenched his teeth, thought for just a second more, then gave his decision.

"Nat, start the spell!" he commanded, running to the wolf and grabbing her forearm. "Sythe, make sure my crew knows where we are!"

"Right," Sythe acknowledged. Mrs. Nibbly stood back up on the table, looking like she was giving Keith a rather reverent salute.

Natani nodded at the general and raised her free hand over the pile of crystals. "Lanuae domum!" she cast.

"Thank you, Sythe," Keith said before evaporating into nothing with Natani. The lock on the door fell to the ground and the soldiers stormed the apartment, as Sythe reclined in his chair, shut his eyes and let them conduct their search.

* * *

 

Keith fell onto the hardwood floor with an audible  _thump_  alongside Natani, and groggily staggered his way back to his feet after a while. Not only was this the first time he had been teleported, it was the first time he had ever traveled that long of a distance in that short of a timeframe. Useful, to be sure, but he felt sick to his stomach after the ride tonight. He'd probably need a few days before he was ready to put himself through that a second time.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to refocus and get his bearings, but he did recognize where Natani had taken them. Keith didn't visit her house on a regular basis, but it was the atmosphere he remembered more than anything; a strong sense of comfort and fraternity hung in the air like the scent of a pine forest, intoxicatingly inviting and secure. The interior was nothing special: just the standard Keidran one-room style layout similar to Sythe's apartment on the island, with a few dimly lit candles to serve as meager lighting in the dead of the night. At least there were two floors to the building. Keith could only guess that the brothers preferred to keep their sleeping areas on a separate floor to avoid clutter.

And considering the state of some of the other Keidran domiciles he's visited, "cluttered" would be the last word he'd use to describe Natani's place. Furniture may have been minimal, with just a table, chairs and basic amenities in the kitchen and a sofa and fireplace in the living area. But it did open up the area for a few more personal touches. Keith surveyed the walls and saw a few keepsakes were mounted on them at regular intervals, mostly trophies from the brothers' many contracts. Inscribed staffs, battle scarred swords, half-shattered shields, the memorabilia augmented the house very nicely, like Natani had ardently tried to make her property her own.

Natani recovered from the teleportation's side effects as well and took a spot standing next to Keith. "We'll be safe here, for now at least," she informed, then curiously glanced at her companion. "Hey, you alright?"

Keith ran a hand though his hair and heavily sighed. "Adelaide's going to have my head for this at the end of everything."

"She's going to understand completely once we find Domino," the wolf assured, resting an arm on his shoulder. "We bring him to her, we explain what he did, and it'll be like nothing happened."

The Basitin returned a friendly grin in her direction. "We can only hope," he replied. "Smart money says I'm back on trial again."

"Probably, but you turned out okay from the first time," Natani grinned, more closely looking over her friend. "But we're waiting for tomorrow. You need some rest in a bad way first."

"Nat, how can you possibly think about sleep at a time like this?"

The wolf slightly tugged on the Basitin's shoulder, leading him towards the sofa in the living area. "If anything happens, I'll get Zen and we'll deal with it. You need some time off, big time," she persuaded, practically tossing Keith onto the couch like one tosses sheets onto a bed.

"I'm not that tired," Keith argued back, drowsily.

"Long-distance teleportation does have drawbacks and sleepiness is one of them," Natani pressed. "Just rest it off, and you can think about Domino tomorrow, alright?"

Keith sighed with depression as he tried to make himself comfortable. "I hate having nothing to do," he mumbled.

Natani laughed softly for a second, then perked her ears as the rapid  _thump_  of footsteps danced down the stairs. Zen leaped from the fourth stair and noiselessly landed, investigating the hard landing noise Natani made on her way in.

He seemed to suspect a break-in, but his demeanor changed to something much more personable once he saw the "culprit." "Nat! What are you doing here?" he excitedly asked.

"Long story," the other brother responded. "It's good to see you again."

"Come here, little brother," Zen walked over, arms outspread. Natani did the same, and they met each other in a nice, fraternal hug as the two wolves finally reunited in person. "I missed you a ton," the older patted the younger's back a couple of times.

"Yeah, you too, Zen," Natani whispered after a deep breath. The two brothers stood there, silently for just a few more seconds, then Natani broke it up. "Listen, Domino's here. In the city."

"What for?"

"I caught him planting the bombs in Parliament. He teleported here and tried to frame me. I think he's trying to think up something else now."

"Does anyone else know about this?" Zen asked.

"Sythe does, but he was left on the island. Someone's going to have to explain this one to them."

"Nobody here, though."

"So far."

Zen moved over to the kitchen table and took a seat in one of the plain chairs. He pressed a hand against the side of his forehead as Natani took the spot next to him. "Clovis? You there?" he transmitted.

A pause. No response. "Clovis?" Zen repeated.

The half-fox cleared his throat as he finally picked up on the other end. " _Yes, yes I'm here. What's going on?_ "

"Were you sleeping or something?"

" _Maybe I was just a bit slow on the pickup, Zen. Now what is it?_ "

"Nat's in town. And Domino."

Clovis wasn't immediately ready to respond to that development. " _As in this town, just to clarify?_ "

"He's sitting across from me right now."

" _So I see. Give me a second,_ " Clovis stated as his image started to materialize in the third chair. Sitting in his office chair back at his manor, his appearance looked quite natural at the wolves' house, even if he was still just a projection. Natani looked up at the spymaster, who peered back at her underneath his hood.

One crooked grin later, he pressed the tips of his hands together and reclined in his seat. " _Now, Natani, how was your little vacation to the island?_ "

* * *

 

"That is unfortunate," Clovis nodded as Natani finished relating the news. He adjusted himself in his chair slightly as he looked at the two ethereal wolves sitting down across from his desk. "And where would Domino be now?"

" _We're not sure,_ " Zen answered. " _He's probably back at The Fang's HQ or a safe house. Probably the latter, since he's kind of high profile now._ "

"I'll look into it," Clovis volunteered. "We know he's in the city somewhere, so he can't have too many spots to hide." He peered back over at the younger brother. "On the topic of high profile, Natani, what are you going to do?"

" _About the Basitins?_ " Natani responded. " _They're looking for me, but I'm a little out of the way right now. Things should clear up as soon as this does._ "

" _Nat brought Keith along as well,_ " Zen added. " _If we can't find Domino, then he should be able to talk to the wolves and get them to look into it. With Sythe on the island working with the Basitins, I'd say we're sitting pretty, all things considered._ "

"I concur," Clovis smiled, taking a small sip of broth out of his mug. His cold definitely died down since this afternoon, but that didn't mean it was gone entirely. It wasn't like he hated the taste of the soup either. It was quickly becoming one of his favorite drinks now, common it may be.

"We'll pick this back up later," Clovis proposed. "In the meantime, girl, I dare say you look like hell at present."

" _When you're on the run from the police, it tends to happen._ "

"Rest up for now. I'll think of something for you to do. Zen, we'll meet tomorrow. Usual place?"

" _Usual place,_ " Zen agreed. " _I...talked to Blitz also. He's still pissed, but at least he's still with us._ "

"I'll apologize in person tomorrow," Clovis rolled his eyes. The one thing he almost never did, and the Polar Fox was adamant that he do it. "Are we done here?"

" _I'll let you know if anything happens,_ " Zen stated.

"Very well. Good night," Clovis grinned as the two projected wolves vanished from his desk. He looked back up from the now empty chairs, at the one very real wolf pointing a pistol at his head.

"They're gone now," he stated, as the gunman removed a deep purple crystal from his pocket and crushed it in his hand. Clovis felt the presences of Natani and Zen melt from his mind as the incandescent purple particles swam through the room, randomly but gracefully.

He turned his attention back to his visitor. "You don't suppose you can lower that now?" Clovis kindly requested, trying not to focus on the firearm instead of its bearer.

"You don't suppose you can back off and let me finish my work?" Domino mocked.

"You're a smart man. What do you think my answer's going to be to that?" the half-fox calmly replied. Threats carried a lot of psychological weight, but not so much physically. They were made to coerce someone into doing something, and Clovis had already done what he had to.

"Is this really the way you want to do things?" Domino smirked.

"Don't act like you aren't going to enjoy it," Clovis smiled. "I like games, and so do you from the sound of things."

Domino snickered as he took a couple steps closer to Clovis. "I also like results," he replied.

"And it's laughable that you think this is the way you'll get the one you want," the spymaster blandly added, paying no mind to the gun advancing towards him. "Do you play a lot of chess, Domino?"

"I do, actually. Favorite pastime of mine."

"That's magnificent, then. I happen to also. We should sit down for a match sometime."

Domino smirked again. "As lovely as that sounds, I think I'd rather take my money," he asserted, rolling the hammer back on the handgun.

"Only, I'm not the one keeping you from having it," Clovis pointed out. "I might know what you're doing, but I can't get in your way. Not at this stage."

"Doesn't make you any less dangerous," Domino countered. "Which you are to a very severe degree."

"Why, thank you," Clovis beamed. "But I'm not nearly as dangerous as the one man standing between you and your war."

"General Keiser."

The half-fox nodded, slowly. "I'm worthless in your eyes. A bishop stuck behind a pawn wall. A knight surrounded by his own men. I can't do a thing against you. But General Keiser, ooh, he's the queen threatening mate in two. And you need to do something about that."

"You seriously think the chess metaphors are going to save you now?" Domino raised an eyebrow.

"No, but I don't think you're going to kill me either way."

"And why's that?" Domino demanded, glaring sternly at the half-fox.

Clovis grinned back at the mercenary. "Because," he clarified. "I am simply too fun to play against."

The wolf blinked, continuing to stare at the half-fox intensely. "I understand you, Domino," Clovis continued to lecture. "You like money. You wouldn't be trying to jumpstart a war if you didn't. You're a businessman and I get that. I happen to like money myself too. But, surely, there must be a safer way to get it, right?"

"Why would you care if there was?"

"You know, you must be remarkably patient if you're willing to put your own war three weeks on hold before it actually begins," Clovis calmly explained, trying to ignore the cold steel pressing against his forehead. "Any sane businessman would think that's just unacceptable. They'd bow out, cut their costs and move along. Not you, though. So why are you waiting so long?"

The wolf huffed back in response, leaving Clovis to resume speaking. "You got tired of just selling arms, didn't you? You never saw the reason behind it, why they would just sit on a rack, never seeing any use at all. You didn't mind that then, because you made profits in the end. But you saw an opportunity when we started fighting the Templars, and you're refusing to let it go. And I know why."

Clovis rested his elbows on his desk, his head on the back of his hands, the gun now aimed just above his head. "You're not starting a war for the money. You're starting a war because you just don't want to be bored anymore. And you're leaving me alive because I'm the only one who gets it."

Then the half-fox gently grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled it back down to his forehead. "So, I'll leave it to you. If I'm wrong, you'll pull the trigger right here and have one less problem on your hands. I won't take it personally if you do. But if I'm right, then..." Clovis scoffed, and grinned back up at the wolf. "It would be a treat to play this game with you."

Domino's trigger hand trembled slightly, as Clovis simply waited on his decision. Tense moment after tenser moment ticked past, the wolf in a perfect position to end one half of his issues right here with no resistance. All that was needed was just a little pressure...

He sighed heavily and raised the pistol towards the ceiling. "You are so right," he remarked with a reluctant smile, as he disengaged the hammer and slapped the firearm on the desk, in front of Clovis. "Never had someone who's had more fun messing with my plans than you."

"I aim to please," Clovis replied.

Domino turned to the office doors and began to take his leave. "You know that we'll see each other again," he said over his shoulder.

"Most assuredly," the half-fox cheerfully affirmed. "Perhaps we'll get in our chess game then as well."

"Do you play blitz?"

"My favorite," Clovis chortled.

Domino nodded and clicked his tongue. "I look forward to it," he smiled at his new favorite enemy as he opened the door. He then immediately shut it again as another thought struck him.

"Oh, yes, since I have you," the wolf turned back to Clovis, one hand still on the handle. "A few of my recruits just came in from up north, and they wanted to know where a good spot for a drink would be."

"There's a tavern in your headquarters if I'm not mistaken," Clovis recalled. This question sounded a lot like filler, simply asked to waste his time. But this was the first time in a very long span that Clovis actually enjoyed talking just back and forth like this. True, Domino was a horrible person as far as motives went. The personality, conversely, matched the half-fox's almost blow for blow.

"Yeah, that stuff is nasty though, and Hurley kind of kills the mood. I wanted to show them somewhere new."

"Oh? Did you have a spot in mind?" Clovis inquired.

"I gave them a recommendation for..." Domino paused, snapping his fingers trying to remember the name. "...what was it, MacMillan's! Yeah, MacMillan's. What do you think about them?"

Clovis' gaze narrowed, trying to mask the cold feeling of dread that was just instilled in his body. "It's a lovely spot," he flatly commented.

"Alright, awesome!" Domino pumped a fist. "Wanted to hear it from you first," he beamed as he now exited the office for real.

"I'll let them know you approve," he toothily grinned at the half-fox. "Good night!" he called, leaving the door open and waving at Clovis.

"Yes, good night indeed," Clovis softly spoke and returned the gesture, as friendly as he could manage. He then rose from his seat and walked back to the door, slamming it in a fit of panicked frustration. He leaned against it, his eyes gone wide with fear.

"He's played us," he whispered out loud.

* * *

 

"Kayle, quit it. I'm just fine," Blitz asserted as his niece walked him through the tavern's back room. "I can walk home by myself."

"You've gotten sick twice ever since Zen left," Kayle remanded as she navigated the maze of barrels and shelving units. "I'm taking you home, whether you feel like having me or not."

"And let go of me. I can walk just..." Blitz hiccupped sharply, causing a little bit of pain in his stomach. "...just fine."

"And that's the fifth time you said that in the past ten minutes. Trust me, you can't."

"Watch me," Blitz challenged as he lifted his arm off of his niece and staggered the rest of the way to the back room's door, stumbling only when he reached the doorknob. His back foot did kick a wood box placed to his left, which upset a small bottle resting on top of it, but not so much for it to start rolling. Kayle ran up to support him, yanking on his free arm.

"There? You see that?" the Polar Fox grunted as he pulled himself back to his feet. "Just fine."

Kayle was about to protest more, but her uncle did manage to go much farther than she initially thought. Maybe he wasn't quite as hung-over as she thought before. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Sweetheart, I wouldn't be telling you that if I wasn't," Blitz replied.

The vixen wasn't convinced, and skeptically crossed her arms. "And how do I know that isn't just the rum talking?"

"Would this be the rum talking?" Blitz kindly asked as he softly tugged the bandana down. He stooped down, gently held Kayle's head between both hands and gave her a warm, fatherly kiss on the forehead. Kayle shut her eyes and smiled, taking in her uncle's love like a plant would take in sunlight, and gently wrapped her hands around his abdomen.

Blitz moved his hands around her as well, escalating the half-hug to a fuller version. "I love you so much, sweetheart," he whispered.

"You too, Uncle Blitz," she lovingly rested her head on his shoulder, her tail slowly but happily wagging. She sighed, and started brushing her head against his, effectively scratching herself just behind the ears.

Blitz petted her back for a moment, then placed his hands on her shoulders, looking at her back in her radiant green eyes. "Now get back up front and finish locking up for me, okay? I can manage from here."

Kayle smiled back at her wonderful uncle. "Alright, you win," she giggled. "But if I hear anything from the police about you, you're not allowed back here for a week."

"Not going to happen," Blitz grinned, pulling his bandana back up and yanking open the door. The rain eased off significantly, but it left a patch of very thick fog in its absence, obscuring most of the night in an impenetrable shade of moonlit grey. "I know exactly where I'm going," he stated as he marched out the door and took a professional left-hand turn down the road.

Kayle sighed again, only this time with exasperation. "Uncle, our house is to the right," she called out to him.

Blitz walked right past the doorway again as soon as he heard the vixen's correction. "Yes, dear. I knew that," he quickly replied, acting like he was going the right direction all along.

Kayle smiled again, shut the door and locked it up using the bolt above the handle. She then jogged through the maze of supplies in the back room and back to the front area. The chairs were stacked upon the tables, the floor was swept and mopped up. The only thing left to do was to finish counting the gold for today and take it to the back room's safe. Kayle went behind the bar and returned to the already emptied gold drawer and got back to where she left off. She took ten coins out of the big pile she made earlier, arranged them into a tight stack, then placed it down on the bar, finished a two-by-five arrangement of one hundred gold. The count looked good so far.

She grabbed another handful of coins and started the count to ten again, until the door was unexpectedly knocked on. It came so unexpectedly that the coin stack almost disintegrated in Kayle's hand out of surprise. It was unusual though. The sign she used outside to show whether the bar was open for business or not tended to be very visible to most people.

Or it might of been Blitz, who just turned around and came back for something he forgot. In either case, Kayle finished counting the stack, placed it down and ran over to the door. She had to undo the deadbolt lock above the doorknob, but left the chain one above that alone, just in case.

She slowly opened the door and peered though the crack, cautiously. She did indeed have company, but it was almost impossible to identify them through the overly soupy fog. There seemed to be four of them, reasonably wearing hooded jackets for their late night trek through the dismal weather.

"You do know we're closed, right?" Kayle asked as the fog eased up just slightly, revealing a little bit more of the guests' attire.

The cloth was dyed deep green, and sewed onto the left sleeves were patches of a Human skull and two swords.


	4. Part IV: Foxes, Fish and Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Domino launches a surprise attack on Kayle. Keith meets with the Wolf King to preserve the ties between their nations. The assassin brothers and Blitz team up to bring down The Fang once and for all. Sythe boards the Quantum to keep Mike and Evals company.

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Part IV: Foxes, Fish and Friends

Chapter 23

"Clovis, slow down! What's wrong with Kayle?"

"If we weren't in a hurry, I'd explain!" Clovis panted as he continued to dash through the empty, fogged backstreets, towards MacMillan's. "We just need to get to the tavern, like, now!"

Zen had to exert himself slightly more than normal to match the spymaster's pace. The soupy fog shrouding the late night streets didn't help matters either, with Clovis fading in and out, back and forth from Zen's sight. One second he would be perfectly merged with the deep grey of the low flying clouds, then Zen would momentarily catch a flicker of the half-fox's crimson cape, fluttering behind him like a banner in a windstorm. Past him, dark windows blurred through the fog, faintly lit by the lanterns hung above the sides of the street, the gas torches' luminosities suppressed by the inclement weather.

The sound of scampering feet off to Zen's left indicated that Clovis had taken an abrupt turn down the alley he just passed. He backed up then dashed down it, not permitting the half-fox to get any further ahead of him. On a normal day, this would have been just another street chase, something well within Zen's capabilities. Fleeing targets were nothing new to him, especially in his line of work.

There were two things about this scenario, however, that distinguished it somewhat in his eyes. For starters, he was still trying to wake up after Clovis all but kicked his door in and started barking orders at him like a drill sergeant stripped of his morning coffee. It was far, far too late for this nonsense, and the least Clovis could have done for the wolf was offer up just a little explanation as to why they were in such a rush to MacMillan's, or why he thought Kayle was in danger or about to be. But nope, now here he was, half-asleep, groggily sprinting after his employer in a dark alley, with little to no idea what was going on. If Zen didn't know any better, he'd have thought he was still asleep, but the last thing he would ever do with Clovis was dream about him, even coincidentally. So that theory was immediately debunked, as pleasant as it would have been.

But the sleep deprivation was a miniscule problem next to the second unique facet of this situation: Kayle. The family of foxes. Zen's friends. It felt nothing short of bizarre to the wolf, that he was rushing to ward off danger from someone who wasn't Natani. His reaction would have been completely understandable then, if he was permitted to judge himself like that. This was not her, though. So what was driving him, then? What was so special about Kayle that...

Zen didn't bother trying to complete that question, because it would have sounded downright stupid if he had. Everything was special about Kayle, and Blitz for that matter. Out of everybody and everything Zen knew around the wolf's capital city, Natani, his home, and the two foxes were the only ones he could confidently say that about. They grew on him, and this was the direct result of his relations with them.

_We can't replace what you lost, but we can definitely try._

Zen stared back in front of him, with resolve as he continued to chase Clovis. Kayle and Blitz were more than just a bartender and a cooperative.

They were a second family to him. And he would be damned if he was losing them too.

The half-fox skidded to a halt in front of the tavern's front door, nabbing the knob as he dashed past. Zen didn't notice Clovis slowing down for a moment, and almost collided with him as a result. Instead he managed to check his speed enough to only set his hands on Clovis' back for a second.

Clovis rattled the door for a few seconds, then struck it with frustration. " _R'llyat!_ " he swore, as he frantically began patting himself down, searching for his mana reserve. Make that three things unusual about this situation: Clovis, for once in his life, was starting to lose his touch, Zen noticed. The lack of a long-winded explanation, the undignified, out of place language, the panicked way he was searching for something he should have by all rights known where it was. He finally dug one of the crystals out of his back pocket and fidgeted with it for a moment before kneeling down and holding it before the door's lock, shakily pinching it between his thumb and forefinger.

"Recludo!" he commanded, and the wisps of mana began to float out of the crystal and slip their way through the lock's keyhole. The crystal dimmed to a blank, colorless state, and a few seconds later he received the audible  _ka-chunk_  of the lock retracting. The half-fox then stood back up, motioned for Zen to come stand behind him, and took one, final deep breath.

Zen patted the half-fox's shoulder, and Clovis barged through the door to storm the tavern.

Zen slid his blade out from his bracer and positioned it defensively in front of him. Clovis drew two more crystals from his pocket and prepared another spell, two tiny fireballs manifesting in his hands. They were now in the tavern's main area, but if something had happened here, then it wasn't readily noticeable. Clovis crept forward, his eyes darting every which way, checking for anything or anyone unusual. Zen slowly patrolled around the bar, keeping low to the ground. Except for an upset stack of gold coins strewn about on the countertop, the tavern looked deserted for the night.

Zen pressed two fingers to his head to mentally transmit the all clear to Clovis, until he picked up on another noise. The half-fox's ears jumped to full alert as well, and he pointed towards the door to the kitchen. Zen nodded acknowledgement, and moved to the side of the door, the blade held out behind him, now offensively. Clovis took to the other side and blew a puff of air onto the fireball in his left hand to dismiss it. The noise came through much more clearly now. It was weeping, sobbing...

It was Kayle. Zen looked at Clovis, and he could tell he knew it as well. Quietly, Clovis slowly turned the doorknob and gently gave it a push, the hinges squealing as the door came to rest about halfway open. Zen infiltrated the kitchen first, ready to intercept anything looming within...

"Oh, no..." Zen slowly whispered, his blade hand now trembling sporadically and severely. Kayle was indeed in the kitchen, sitting in the corner and on the verge of tears. The scene around her, however, was mortifying. Four Keidran, three wolves and a tiger, all armed and wearing green hooded shirts with The Fang's insignia patched onto the sleeves, lay scattered about on the wooden floor, one of them propped against the wall next to the charcoal grill. All of them had received numerous deep cuts all over their bodies, and had bled profusely from them as a result. Judging from the volume pooled on the floor, all of them were probably dead if not on the cusp of it. The vixen, still staggering with her breathing and her eyes continuing to water up, tightly but steadily gripped a chopping knife in her hands. The edge of it was coated with crimson, and some it had splashed onto her white sleeveless shirt, with a couple drops on her upper arms too.

"Kayle!" Zen exclaimed, sliding his blade back up and running to her. Kayle screamed and jutted the knife out in front of her reactively, causing Zen to immediately stop. He slowly raised his hands, undid the leather fasteners on his bracer, and slid it off of his arm. He placed it gently on top of one of the nearby tables, and then steadily backed away from it. The hyperventilating vixen gradually lowered her knife in response.

"Clovis, get in here," Zen ordered at a moderately soft volume. Clovis got rid of the second fireball and peered into the kitchen. He inhaled sharply as he took in the scene, then fully entered the kitchen area, his arms folded underneath his red cloak. He noticed Kayle sitting in the corner of the room as well, and tossed off his hood at the risk of possibly scaring her.

"What happened?" he asked breathlessly, still stupefied by the possible idea that Kayle had done this all by herself.

"She did a damn brave thing," Zen answered, then turned his gaze back to the vixen, her eyes singularly trapped on the bloodstained floor. "Kayle?" Zen tried to get her attention.

The vixen only gave a sniffle in response. She still held the kitchen knife in front of her, frightfully.

"Kayle?" Zen calmly repeated. Her eyes slowly peered back up at the wolf, timidly.

Zen still had his arms raised as he finally succeeded in making eye contact with the bartender. "Listen to me, Kayle. You're safe," he spoke, soothingly, as the half-fox checked for pulses on the four assailants. "Clovis and I are here. We're going to protect you."

Kayle raised the knife again, and Zen took a half-step backwards. "But before we can do that, you have to let go of that knife first," he stated, pointing at the utensil then outstretching a hand. "Hand it here."

The vixen struggled for breath again, and pulled the knife closer to her chest, her only means of defense.

"It's okay," Zen continued, still reaching for the knife. "We're here to help. You're okay."

Kayle glanced down at the weapon, her vision unfocused through her tears. She gasped for air once more, still unable to process or explain what had transpired in the past few minutes. She raised it in front of her face, as the blade started to tremble in her hands.

Zen inched closer to her, trying not to scare her. "Kayle?"

The vixen dropped the knife between her legs, letting it loudly clatter back onto the floor. She sprang onto Zen and wrapped her arms tightly around him, burying her face into his chest. Her gasping whimper from before now escalated to a full-scale cry, intermittent screaming, her tears staining the front of Zen's shirt. The wolf did nothing in response, not immediately, simply allowing Kayle to hold him for a while. After a few moments he gently put his hands on her back, and let himself sit down on his lower legs.

"It's alright, Kayle," he whispered after a moment. His hands involuntarily tightened their grip on the vixen's shirt. "You're alright."

Minutes passed. Zen still sat with Kayle, silently comforting her in his arms. Clovis finished checking the third body for vitals. None so far. It was a complete massacre. He stood up, curiously glancing at the wolf and fox, huddled together on the kitchen floor. He sighed heavily and surveyed the room once again. Only the one against the wall wasn't checked yet. He thought it best to look at it anyways, just in case.

Kayle finally managed to calm down, still pressing her head against the assassin. Clovis turned his head to her again as he heard her cries start to come down. He looked down at his bright red cloak, then reached a hand up towards the collar and undid the golden clasp securing it around him.

Zen moved his hand up to the back of Kayle's head, gently running a thumb through her smooth auburn hair. The vixen was still sniffling, but moved her head up to Zen's shoulder, resting her muzzle on it. Her eyes were still shut and moist.

"Here," Clovis softly said as Zen was softly tapped on his other shoulder by what felt like wyvworm silk. He turned his head away from Kayle momentarily, and noticed that it was actually the half-fox's scarlet cape. Clovis held it towards Zen, arm extended, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, almost sorrowfully.

"She needs it more than I do right now," he stated, sporting only a black undershirt now.

Zen wasn't sure what to make of the offering, and just stared at the cape instead. Clovis moved his arm closer to Zen, in silent insistence. Zen nodded and took the cloak off his hands, in silent thanks. He threw the cover over Kayle's back and gradually helped her back to her feet. Her legs continued to shake and buckle violently, and she draped a hand around Zen's neck for support.

"I think I need to take her home," Zen informed as he walked the vixen towards the kitchen's door. He held his inside arm tightly against Kayle, making sure she wouldn't fall.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think you should too," Clovis softly agreed, pacing towards The Fang agent against the wall. "I'll be out of here in a moment."

Zen assisted the vixen out of the room, and was about to start towards the front door. He stopped just prior to it and turned back to the half-fox, who was staring down the incapacitated agent. "Clovis," he called to him. The spymaster didn't react, not even turning his head to look at him. "You sure you're okay?"

"Just take her to her uncle's," Clovis replied. "I'll be fine."

Not another word was spoken, and Zen continued to help Kayle hobble her way to the front door. Clovis continued to just stare at the bodies, dismally. The sound of the door shutting immediately liquefied his legs, dropping him to his knees in an instant.

"What have you done, Clovis?" he asked out loud, wishing for an answer yet knowing one was not coming.

* * *

 

The half-fox did nothing of note for at least another fifteen minutes after Zen left. Very seldom did Clovis ever find himself speechless like this. He knew who was to blame for the attack, and he sat on his knees, staring down the bloodied wall, lost in thought about it. Because the answer wasn't The Fang.

Clovis hated taking fault for anything. And yet, for some reason, he couldn't help the feeling that he was solely responsible for this happening. He should have listened to Blitz. He should have hidden the intel. He should have tied off the loose ends leading to his assets. What was he thinking? The sole question of his time alone in the tavern. What was he thinking? He'd blundered on an astronomical scale, and was dangerously close to losing Kayle because of it.

What was he thinking?

The half-fox turned his head disdainfully at the agent resting against the wall. Damn him. Him and his entire entourage. The affront delayed nothing, but it delayed everything. Clovis would be amazed if Kayle or Blitz ever lent him assistance again after this crisis. The timeline wasn't harmed, but Blitz would almost definitely be put off from the job now, well beyond Zen's persuasion skills. It was down to him, Zen, possibly Natani, and that was it. He didn't like those numbers in the slightest.

Head hung with defeat, Clovis lugubriously got to his feet and went to study the last agent in the room, one of the three wolves. He frankly wasn't expecting much as he picked up the limp hand. He just wanted to confirm a death, go back to his manor, fix some tea and go to sleep. He'd have to call on Blitz as well sometime tomorrow also. Though considering the state his niece was currently in, he'd probably wouldn't be allowed to come within a kilometer of his home by the time he got around to that.

He pressed a thumb against the wolf's wrist, and peered through the ordering station, at the large mounted clock just off to the side of the front door. Quarter until midnight. Far, far too late for him to be staying up, especially like this.

Something bumped in the wolf's wrist, and Clovis' eyes immediately darted down to it. Another second, and it bumped again. A third second, a third bump.

A pulse.

Clovis immediately set the hand down and reached into his back pocket. This was a good thing. The agent had lost a lot of blood, but somehow he was just unconscious. Unconscious meant not dead. Not dead meant alive. Alive meant talking.

Clovis knelt back down and placed a mana crystal on top of the agent's abdomen. He applied some pressure using his hand, and spoke the word "Excitandis." A green glow emanated from his hand, and shortly after the agent's eyes jumped open as he took a sharp, full breath of oxygen. Clovis let the agent get his bearings straight, get accustomed to the environment.

The wolf's expression went from relieved to terrified as he identified his fallen comrades on the hardwood floor, then gradually, timidly turned to Clovis. "Oh crap," he said to himself, under the impression the half-fox had just murdered his friends. He clawed at the back wall in panic, hastily trying to get to his feet and possibly run for his life.

The spymaster instead grabbed the collar of his shirt with both hands, hoisted him to his feet and pinned him against the wall he was found. He didn't say anything, and just contemptuously glared at the revived Fang member for a while instead.

The agent toothily grinned and put his hands to the air. "J-just let me go, man! I won't say a thing about this, I promise!"

"Listen to me very carefully," Clovis hissed, his muzzle no more than two inches away from the other's. "I have had an amazingly long and stressful day, and ninety-nine percent of it is because I've been trying to put up with you and your guild ever since I woke up. I want to go home as soon as possible, and I'm sure you'd like to as well. So let's just get this over with and we can both call it a night, yeah?"

"I-I go home after, right?"

"Deal or no?" Clovis demanded.

"What happens if I say no?" the wolf responded.

Clovis released one hand and snapped his fingers, igniting a fireball in his palm. He moved it to the wolf's face, just close enough to singe some of the fur on his left cheek.

"I think you know the answer," Clovis stated, dismissing the fireball and reinstating his grasp on the agent. On another night, he'd remember his manners, but the late night and recent events had worn down his patience and formality, enough to the point where he couldn't afford to expend any more of it on people like this.

"Now, how did you know to be here?" the half-fox seethed.

The wolf inhaled shallowly, awkwardly trying to contort his mouth to blow air onto the burnt part of his face. Clovis pressed on his stomach, where one of the more grave wounds were. The agent yelped, and immediately forgot everything about the burn. "D-Domino drew it up, alright? He scouted this place earlier."

"And the plan was to kill the bartender?" Clovis angrily continued, applying more pressure to the cut. "Someone completely uninvolved?"

"Nono, not kill her, man. H-he just wanted us to hit the place. Smash a few things, leave some notes. We-we didn't expect for her to still be here!" The agent rushed every sentence as it came, tempted with the promise of not being around Clovis any longer.

"Yes, and I'm certain your little team  _needed_  their swords and padded shirts for this little job," the half-fox remarked as he flicked the agent's top, feeling the cloth armor underneath the shirt.

The wolf breathed in again. "I can explain that..." he stammered, then screamed again as Clovis' hand dug into his abdominal wound again.

"Then start!" Clovis boomed. "What were you doing here?"

"The boss wanted leverage!" the wolf cried. Clovis removed his hand again, and permitted the wolf a few minutes to let the pain subside. "He wanted to take the girl, alright? Thought you'd back down if he did."

"That doesn't explain the swords," Clovis spat.

"Intimidation, I swear this is true!" the wolf panted. "W-we just had them with us, thought it'd be easier to take her. We didn't expect her to go berserk with a kitchen knife!"

"Well you definitely succeeded in that sense, now didn't you?"

"That, that everything?" the agent squeaked. "I just want to go home!"

"You said Domino sent you. Where is he?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," he frightfully replied, pointing at the three other Keidran. "They just came up to my room and told me to kit up."

Clovis looked at the wolf intensely, eye-to-eye. The wolf's eyes nervously danced all around the kitchen, looking everywhere except in the half-fox's direction.

"I don't believe you," Clovis rendered his judgment.

"It's the truth! I wouldn't be telling you this if it wasn't!" the agent begged.

"Convince me then."

"How the hell do I do that? I just told you what I know!"

Clovis examined his captive one last time, then shook his head sadly. "You had to be like this..." he mumbled, then swiftly kicked the wolf's feet out from under him, like upright planks supporting a wobbly table. The wolf immediately crashed onto his knees, and Clovis dug into his pocket again.

"What are doing?" he yelled to the spymaster. "Just let me go, please!"

"Then look at me!" Clovis demanded, demonically glaring at the agent and sinisterly holding a mana crystal right in front of his face. "Look at me right in eyes, right now, and tell me that you are not lying!"

The wolf finally succeeded in making direct eye contact with Clovis, but, for some reason, couldn't open his mouth to say that he was being truthful.

Clovis sighed again, exhaling cold air out of his nose and into the wolf's face. "You did this to yourself," he remanded as he rammed the mana crystal against the wolf's forehead and impressed it into his fur with his hand. The wolf shut his eyes tightly, until Clovis pried his right one open with his thumb and forefinger

"Don't do this!" the agent screamed.

"Veritas invenitur!" Clovis shouted. His hand started to glow blue, and the agent's panic gradually subsided to calm. The deep brown eye Clovis had forced open gradually filled with luminescent blue, like a jug of water was being poured into it. The eye's iris fully filled, and the agent finally ceased moving altogether. His eye simply stared up to Clovis in awe, charmed by the spell. He felt no more compulsion to deceive. He had no more reason to lie. His heart felt completely opened, ready to share any secrets he hid.

"Now," Clovis hissed, still forcing the crystal against the wolf's head and still holding his eye open. "Where is Domino, precisely?"

"He's hiding in his safe house," the agent monotonously replied. "Built into the city sewers, underneath Post Street."

"And what is he doing?"

"Never said," came the reply. "This was only a step towards the goal. He always gets what he wants."

"And that is all you know about it?"

"Yes."

Clovis nodded as he accepted that he would likely not get any more information from the wolf. At that, he lifted the crystal off of the wolf and let his eye shut. The wolf's head turned to the side, his consciousness now lost deep in slumber, as Clovis tossed the used crystal off to the side of the room. He proceeded out the door, two fingers placed to the side of his head.

"Thom? Is this a bad time?"

" _Is it ever, sir?_ " the tiger replied on the receiving end of his private mental link.

"I need some bodies moved."

" _Mind if I ask what you did this time?_ "

"Long story," the half-fox answered. "Send three people to MacMillan's as soon as you can. Offer them overtime if you have to, but this needs to get done."

" _I'm on it, sir,_ " Thom confirmed his orders. " _What will you be doing?_ "

"Hunting Domino," Clovis replied as he reentered the fogged streets, slamming the tavern door behind him.

* * *

 

Chapter 24

The fire burnt brightly, fiercely, yet softly, as Kayle flipped herself over in her bed, the covers pulled up just below her neck. She slept comfortably, yet anxiously, as Blitz and Zen vigilantly kept watch over her from the fireplace. She had a room upstairs she could have just as easily accessed, especially with Zen escorting her like he was, but her uncle insisted she sleep on the ground level tonight, in consideration of the events that had just transpired in the pub. If anything were to stir her, he'd prefer to be at her side as quickly as possible.

The flames continued to dance and jump inside the fireplace, Zen blankly staring at them like a stage play that just lost his interest. The fox's living room didn't have much in the way of furnishings, save for a small table Blitz like to reserve for games of cards, and of course the low clearance bed stand Kayle was using. When it came to blankets though, Blitz had more than enough of those. At least five of varying thicknesses were heaped onto Kayle as she continued to rest, and two more were spread out on the wood floor for the fox and wolf to sit on for the time being. Zen sat with his legs in front of him, his head resting on his bent knees.

Blitz silently fluffed another pillow for his niece and placed it against her bed for later. He took his seat on Zen's left, placing himself on top of the green and yellow wool. He had his facemask off again, the black bandana loosely hanging around his neck.

He exchanged glances with the wolf, then joined him in watching the fire burn. The night was cold, silent. Very abnormal weather for the summertime. Zen didn't like it a bit. Blitz found it only bearable, his thicker fur coat finally proving itself beneficial during its off season.

"I did this to her, Zen," Blitz whispered, covering his face with his hand. "I made her stay late, didn't take her with me, and then this happens."

"She wouldn't blame you for what happened. Nobody would," Zen flatly added. "Nobody saw this coming. We got ambushed."

"I could have been there, mate," the fox sighed. "She didn't have to fight tonight."

"But she did, and she's a hero because of it."

"How in the hell can you say that?" Blitz sternly replied, leering at the wolf. "She had to kill four people by herself, completely out of self-defense. She didn't want to do it, she  _had_  to." He turned his head to check on the vixen. She hadn't moved much since Blitz was tending to her earlier.

"And I'd be damn surprised if she's ever the same once she wakes up."

Zen glanced at the fox out of his peripherals. "Listen, I feel awful about this whole thing too, alright? I don't think  _anyone_  can feel alright after what just happened." He leaned forward towards the flames, just slightly. "But it could have ended worse. Much worse."

The fox's domicile went silent, save for the soft sounds of Kayle rolling onto her back, and Blitz turned back to the fireplace too. "Right," was all he could say back.

"All we can really do now is just take it slow, make sure nothing else happens to her," Zen continued.

"No," Blitz argued. "No, between The Fang, your brother and General Keiser, you have enough things to worry about. Just leave me and Kayle alone. We'll be fine."

Now it was Zen's turn to skeptically look at the fox. "This better not be because of what happened tonight."

"It has nothing to do with that," Blitz asserted. "But Kayle needs support more than anything if she's going to get over this. From her family. I'll send a mail to her dad tomorrow and let..."

"And why not me?" Zen demanded.

"It's nothing against you, mate..."

"Remember what you told me at the bar a few days back?" Zen retorted, still mindful of his speaking voice. "That if I ever needed someone you and Kayle would be there? This is me returning the favor. I'm not leaving you."

"Zen, listen..."

"You're my family, alright?!" Zen barked loudly. Blitz flinched. "Alright? You and Kayle are probably the closest things Natani and I are ever going to have to one! Not one damn day goes by when I walk down those streets and pray my parents could have seen where I am today. I am never going to understand what it's like to have someone looking out for you that isn't just your brother! And you and Kayle came so close to fixing that, dammit!"

"Zen, take it easy..."

"You're not just a friend to me, Blitz! And Kayle isn't either! Natani hasn't met you yet, but I'm positive that once he does, he's going to feel exactly like I do right now. With people he can finally care about!"

Zen stopped to catch his breath after his outburst. His vision began to blur as he felt his eyes watering up with frustration. He gripped the sleeves of his shirt hard enough to rip through it if he tightened it anymore. "Please," he begged the fox, finally checking his volume. "I want to help. Just...just let me help you. Like you helped me."

Blitz craned his neck to check on Kayle again. She had rolled back onto her side, her back turned to both him and Zen. Blitz had no idea how she could still possibly be asleep after that, but he ignored it for now.

"You're really worried about her, aren't you?" Blitz whispered, as the fire gave off a moderately boisterous  _pop_.

Zen didn't verbally respond, and just huffed at the fire instead. Blitz stared at him for a few moments longer then sighed again himself. "Then I'm helping you chase Domino."

Zen's ears perked. "You're sure?" he replied, remembering to keep his voice down this time.

"Nobody screws with my family," Blitz growled. "Not you, and definitely not Kayle."

"Blitz, after this, you're well within your rights to just bow out. Clovis would understand."

"I'm not doing this because of my job, mate. I'm doing it for you."

"What does that mean?"

Blitz readjusted his position on his blanket. "You were right, for calling me out earlier. It was stupid of me to think that Kayle wouldn't want to see you after that. It's...good to hear you want to help her."

The fox paused and bowed his head. "It means you're part of the family."

"Blitz, this isn't your fight," Zen continued to dissuade. "Right now, Kayle needs us, but you most importantly."

"She also needs you, brother," Blitz returned. Zen blinked, unfamiliar with that form of address from the Polar Fox. "And we're going to help her. Together. That's what this family is. A problem for one of us gets the attention of all of us." He looked back up at Zen with intensity, sincerity.

"And that goes for you too. Domino hurt Kayle and threatened you. So don't you sit there and give me that sappy 'it isn't my fight' bull crap because I'm pretty damn sure that it is."

Zen wanted to protest further, but Blitz did away with his argument with a flourish of his hand. "I don't want to hear it. If you want to help with Kayle, you're going to let me help you with Domino," he stated, slowly lifting the black facemask over his face.

"Tomorrow, we're going back to see Clovis. We're going to dig until we find out where that bastard's hiding," the fox outlined as he tugged his butterfly knife out from his pants pocket. He glanced at the casing for a few moments before finally flicking it open and spinning it around for a bit.

"Then we'll find him..." Blitz caught the knife, blade protruding outward.

"And we'll make him pay."

* * *

 

Kayle snapped awake, screaming and sitting herself upright. Her blurred vision gradually faded to a better resolution, unveiling familiar surroundings. Friendlier surroundings.

The roaring fire her uncle had prepared earlier had long since died away, a few embers coating the floor of the fireplace, glowing but not nearly hot enough to produce any light. The living area was now almost completely dark, save for the white moonlight bleeding through the windows. The fog had lifted for the most part, and if it wasn't clear already, it would certainly be so by the morning.

The vixen panted heavily and curled herself up, hugging her lower legs. She tilted her head down, and noticed that someone had changed her shirt. The bloodstained white cotton was done away with in favor of...Kayle couldn't tell what the hue was in the living room's blackness, but the scant moonlight reaching her bed led her to believe that it was not a bright shade of anything.

"You alright?" a voice unexpectedly whispered off to her right. She gasped for a moment and swiftly turned her head to the side, almost headbutting Zen as she did so.

"Sorry," the wolf apologized, raising a hand in front of him. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Zen..." Kayle whispered, then buried her muzzle between her legs. "I killed them, didn't I?" Her tone shook, vibrating up and down, lost in her thoughts and emotions.

Zen sighed, upset that the conversation had to start like this. "You were brave tonight, Kayle," he remarked. He was unsure if he was avoiding the question to keep her or himself sane.

Kayle tucked her legs closer to her face. "How do you do it?" she quietly asked.

"How do I do what?" Zen comfortingly replied.

"You're an assassin," the vixen elaborated. "It's your job to kill. Uncle Blitz does it sometimes too. So how do you do it?" Her eyes started to water up again.

"How do you put up with it?"

"Kayle, look..."

"How can you be so strong?" she repeated, shutting her eyes.

"Look here," Zen tapped the left side of her muzzle twice with his hand, prompting Kayle to turn back to him, her vibrant green eyes the only things in the room that haven't been washed out to a deep blue or black. He gripped the sleeve of his shirt and dabbed it softly just under her eyes, pressing just firmly enough to absorb the tears.

"I think that's enough crying for one day," he stated as he transitioned to the second eye.

"Zen, I..."

"I'm not strong," he finally answered as he removed his hand from the vixen's face, who blinked curiously at the response.

"I know what I do, and I don't take it lightly," he continued to say. "A strong guy wouldn't even remember the names of the ones he kills. He just takes the money and the next contract in the queue. Doesn't care who he steps on in the process. That guy is not me.

"Nat and I keep the weapons and gear of the people we kill. We like to keep it on our wall. But we don't take trophies because we think it looks good. We do it because it helps us remember them. It's a curse, trying to remember whose lives you've ended for your gain. But it's one we carry regardless. And it's because we're not strong like you think we are.

"We do it to prove to ourselves that, in the end," Zen concluded, holding Kayle's hand, delicately, reverently in a way. "Nat and I, we're just Keidran. And you thinking like this, is more than enough proof that you are too."

Kayle was breathless for the next few moments, and she felt her eyes starting to swell with tears once again. She shut them and shook them free, then glanced back up again at the wolf. "Zen..." she started.

He blinked, then noticed the vixen finally smiling at him. Faintly, and hardly noticeably, but still smiling. "Thank you," she softly finished. "Thank you so much."

Zen nodded, with a grin of his own, glad to see that Kayle was finally on the road to recovery. The vixen turned her head to the window across from her. Outside, the fog had now completely regressed, revealing the expansive, star-littered night sky it had been concealing. The city did not receive many nights like this, the local light displays outshining and crowding out many of the stars one would normally see in the forest. Late night, however, was a very different story. Kayle stared up into the space, fully immersing herself in the sky's splendor.

Silently, she thought of her family. Her dad and mother, living near the western beaches of the continent. Blitz, her marvelous uncle. And then Zen started to fade into the picture as well. Her supporter. Her drinking partner. Her protector.

Her big brother, in a way.

Zen marveled at the night sky with her as well, trying to suppress any primal urges to howl at that gigantic white circle cut in the middle of it. "I want to help," she stated. The remark took Zen's attention's off of the sky and back to Kayle.

"I heard your talk with Uncle Blitz earlier," she added, her sparkling green eyes fully locked onto Zen's. "And I want to help too."

"We thought you were sleeping through that," Zen confessed, albeit with slight befuddlement.

"Yeah, you  _thought_ ," Kayle pointed out with another smile. "But I want to do something aside from just sit here or at the bar while you and Blitz are out finding Domino."

"You did more than enough for now, Kayle. You need time to recover."

"It wouldn't be right," Kayle responded. "I don't want to be pushed to the side just because I had to..." Her voice trailed off, as she subliminally begin to stare at her hands, like she was in a trance, but she quickly snapped herself out of it. "You said it yourself: we're like family to you. That means you are to us too. And if Blitz wants to help you fight, then it's only fair if I do it with him."

Zen considered objecting, just for a moment, but didn't, under the presumption that it would end just like it ended with Blitz. He was still convinced that Kayle was in absolutely no condition to be helping out anyone at the moment, but if she was this determined to be useful...

Zen sighed and grinned back at the vixen. "Fine. We'll think of something," he agreed, with just a small amount of hesitation. Kayle beamed as she heard his approval. "But you need your rest first, most importantly."

"Where are you going?" she asked as Zen stood up from a kneeling position next to the bed.

"I made myself a little spot to sleep next to the fireplace," Zen pointed a thumb at a pile of blankets and a small pillow. "I'll be right next to you if you need anything else. I'm your watch dog for the night."

Zen's eyes went up to the ceiling, contemplating that last comment. "Or would it be watch  _wolf_ , technically?" he mumbled to himself. He was rewarded with another smile from Kayle.

He shrugged and finished walking back to his makeshift sleeping area. "Whichever it is, I'll be right there, okay?"

Kayle nodded, unnoticeably so if Zen wasn't expecting it or looking for it, and lied back down in her bed. She rested on the side of her head, watching the wolf settle in. He started by removing his thick black shirt, unveiling a bright, almost glowing in the dark white one underneath. He tossed the hood off to the side of the living room, then paced around his blanket stack a couple of times before lifting the second one from the top and sliding himself in between the gap, trying to cover himself as much as he could manage. They were not reasonably proportioned for someone as tall as Zen however, and despite his efforts, he was left with the lower half of his legs resting on the floor. She saw one of them shiver in response to the temperature as they touched down.

"Good night, Kayle," he quietly called over his shoulder as he rolled onto his side.

Kayle shut her eyes, finally ready to get some good, quality rest, but they slowly opened back up after just a couple of minutes. This was in response to the wolf grunting and contorting himself into a number of different positions, trying to get himself comfortable on top of the blankets but insofar failing to do so.

She leaned herself up, supporting herself with her inside elbow. "Zen?"

Zen looked at Kayle over his shoulder, his front half facing away from her. "What's up?"

She started to say something, then hesitated briefly. Zen blinked in anticipation, waiting to see what the vixen needed.

She finally spoke. "Did you want to sleep with me tonight?"

Zen's eyebrows jumped up in confused surprise, thinking that "sleep with me" was Kayle's attempt at a euphemism. "I..I'm not sure if that's an amazing idea, Kayle."

"You just look cold down there is all," Kayle noted, then lifted the sheets on her bed, inspecting the remaining area. "And there's room here for you if you like."

Zen blinked.

"...ooooooooh," Kayle vocalized after a small pause. "You were thinking that..."

"That's usually what that expression means, yeah," Zen nodded.

Kayle giggled a bit and scooted herself to one side of the mattress. "Well, if you think you need it..." she left the offer open, as she shut her eyes again and prepared herself for sleep.

She was well into her slumber, pleasantly immersed in her now fully quelled subconscious, as her ears automatically flipped up as her sheets made noise in front of her. A weight tilted the bed back to a stable equilibrium, and then more rustling followed as the mass shifted in its position. Kayle's arms, through no volition of her own, reached out and rested itself on top of the weight, pulling its warm presence closer to her. It reluctantly obeyed. Her head moved itself upward slightly, pressing itself against the underside of the mass, as she sighed whimsically and smiled.

Zen peered out at the night sky once more, before closing his eyes, grateful that the night was finally over.

* * *

 

Chapter 25

Evals uncapped another bottle of ale and leaned back in the galley's chair. "So how much trouble do you think we'll be in?" he mumbled to the fox, waiting for him to make his play.

"You think the harbor guard will understand if we explained it to them?" Mike thought out loud, discarding a five of spades onto the pile.

"Well, we're still edging in on their space. They have to kick us out at some point."

"Keith and Natani are probably just held up. I mean, it's still pretty early. We have time, right?" Mike speculated. His mind grumbled in frustration as the dog scooped up his recently pitched card. The fox considered himself a mastermind of gin rummy strategy, so considering that the match's tally was now 93 to 15 against him, it was no exaggeration to say he was becoming quite unnerved. Either Evals was getting very lucky or he was simply off his game, the latter explanation he was very reluctant to accept.

"Yeah, I guess," Evals replied, throwing an ace of diamonds in his opponent's direction. "Where would they be though?"

"Supplies?"

"Our shipment came in last night. You and I inventoried it, remember?"

"Doesn't hurt to double check," the fox shrugged, as he tossed away his draw card with displeasure, the frustration only compounding as Evals gladly added it to his collection.

"Tripling seems excessive though," the dog remarked, triumphantly slamming his discard face down onto the pile. "Gin, by the way."

He flashed his teeth victoriously as he laid down his tidily organized hand in sets of three and four, and broke out the pencil and paper to record his exploits. "So that's another twenty-five for me, plus whatever's in your hand..."

"I think I need to look for them," Mike said as he put his cards face down and rose from the table.

"Calm down, Mikey. Best case scenario, the harbor guards leave us alone and we get another day off. Worst case, Keith and Nat come back from breakfast late and we're off right after. We're fine!" Evals exclaimed, his mood drastically improved by how well that last round went. He started poking through the fox's hand, gleefully scribbling down the points contained in it.

"Evals, they hired us. Don't you feel just a little obligated to at least check on them, see how they're doing?"

Evals glanced up at his friend. "You can't be that worried about them. Can you?"

"Well, no. But if they're being delayed then I'd like to at least make sure someone knows about it," the fox stepped towards the A Deck stairs.

"They'll be fine, I'm sure! Let's just chill here for a bit and wait for them to swing by."

"Evals, we don't get paid if they don't come back."

The dog's ears jumped up attentively, and any enjoyment he was receiving from trouncing the fox at cards was abruptly shut off. He leapt to his feet and raced to where Mike was standing, shoving him towards the stairs. "Then let's go get them! Move it, Mikey! Ándale ándale!"

Mike hated being pushed around like that, and picked up his own pace to get in front of the dog. "Alright alright, calm down! It shouldn't be long!"

"There's no such thing as 'it shouldn't be long' when I have money at stake."

"Look, we just need to go about it logically. We don't know where they are, and we just run in looking for them, we'll probably get lost, alright?" Mike briefed as he approached the trapdoor leading up top.

"Okay. Logically," Evals nodded. "I can do that. So where do we start?"

Mike prepared to push the door open. "I'm thinking that..." he started, heaving on the door. For some reason, it refused to budge, like it had gotten significantly heavier since last night. He pushed on it again. Same result.

"Mike, I know you don't have a lot of upper body strength, but this is kind of depressing," Evals groaned.

"It isn't...my fault!" he grunted, taking a third, unsuccessful shot at the door. "Something must have fallen on top of it."

"Alright, make way," Evals rolled his eyes and squeezed himself between Mike and the narrow wall of the corridor. He placed his hands on the underside of the door, ready to flip it open, and Mike reset himself to do the same.

The dog looked at the fox with anticipation. "One..." he called to him.

The fox looked back at him. "Two..." he continued.

"Three!" they said together, pushing jointly on the trapdoor. The force dislodged whatever obstacle was inhibiting them earlier, and the door flipped open, the two Keidran finally getting to the top of the deck. They stood in the corridor, arms resting on the main deck, the upper half of their bodies poking out through the orifice.

"That's better," Mike said to himself, glancing up at the sky. "And the weather doesn't look that bad either."

"Let's go find ourselves a..." Evals started, until a small, furred paw softly batted him on the right side of his face. "What the..." he said to himself, scanning the deck for what could have possibly done that.

A squirrel scampered across the deck towards Mike, he noticed, and then batted the fox across the face as well. It then ran back behind the two sailors, leaving them thoroughly confused by the woodland creature's recent behavior.

Evals slowly turned to his cohort, an eyebrow disbelievingly raised. "Did we just get slapped by a squirrel?" he asked.

"What in the world was that about?" Mike inquired, petting the side of his face. Maybe the squirrel tacked something onto the side of it.

"It's because you almost broke my back, you morons!" a voice snapped from behind the duo. Both of them turned their heads over their inside shoulder, and saw a very livid wolf behind them, sprawled onto his back and glaring at them with enough intensity to cut steel. On his shoulder stood the slap happy squirrel, who not only somehow managed to find a small scrap of cloth from on deck, but was also, as hard as it was for them to believe, waving towards her master's head, as if it was trying to cool him down.

Evals sheepishly raised a hand in front of him, pointing in Mike's general direction. "His idea," he quickly said, prepared to duck back into the hallway at any moment.

Mike's eyebrows jumped up. "You were the one who was blasting the door open!" he yelled.

"At least I could get it open to begin with," Evals bickered.

"For Gods' sakes, shut up!" Sythe hollered. Amazingly, that outburst worked, with the fox and dog both promptly going silent and turning their attention back to the wolf. "I haven't known you two for thirty seconds and already I hate you!"

The squirrel prodded Sythe's cheek, and meditatively motioned for him to breathe in. Sythe followed suit, held it for five seconds, and then released it. The squirrel squeaked happily once it noticed its master finally calmed down, and leaned against the side of his head.

"You know, how about we just try this again?" Mike proposed. "We ignore the fact that we just got assaulted by a squirrel."

"You ignore the fact that we just hurt you by opening a door," Evals continued.

"And we'll just call this a 'do-over,' alright?" Mike finished.

The squirrel nodded enthusiastically. The wolf was a tad more reluctant, but finally agreed. "Alright, fine. Do over."

"Sweet," Evals smiled, pointing at the fox again. "So he's Mike."

"And he's Evals," Mike grinned, returning the gesture towards the dog and slapping the deck of the ship with his other hand. "And this beauty here's the HMS Quantum."

Sythe skeptically surveyed the ship's deck, then peered back at the sailors. "This thing is a Basitin naval ship?"

"Can't prove it isn't," Evals pointed out.

"Plus it's kind of required," Mike added in. "The Quantum sailed General Keiser to the island here..."

" _Ambassador-General_  Keith Keiser," Evals dignifiedly elaborated his employer's esteemed title.

"And we were actually just about to head back out to wolf country with him. Problem is..."

"We have no idea  _where_  he is."

"So we were going to go into town and try figuring that out."

"You won't find him there," Sythe blankly corrected the sailors. "He's already gone."

"What?" Mike and Evals asked in choral surprise.

"Yeah, he and Natani had to teleport out of here to the wolf capital. It was an emergency," the wolf explained as he offered his hand to the other two Keidran. "I'm Sythe, by the way. The squirrel's Mrs. Nibbly." The rodent stopped waving the cloth at Sythe to wave at the sailors for a second, then got right back to work.

The fox and dog stared at the hand like they were watching Sythe perform a very unconvincing magic trick. Then the two sighed with concession and turned away from Sythe to gaze out onto the island, trapped by the sheer thought that their employer had bailed out on them. The wolf was left stunned with his arm still extended, trying to convince himself that Keith's crew was more competent than this.

"He could have at least told us he was going," Mike grumbled, crossing his arms on top of the deck and resting his head on top of them.

"It's amazing how insensitive some people can be sometimes," Evals added.

Sythe was lucky that the ensuing spike in his blood pressure didn't cause any internal hemorrhaging, as the hypocrisy drenching the dog's statement caused the wolf to blow his cork yet again. "I'll show you insensitive, you..."

Mrs. Nibbly put a paw to his mouth before the tirade could escalate any further. Sythe took a deep breath, trying to vent his stress as nonviolently as possible, and only then did Mrs. Nibbly let him speak again. "Keith actually sent me here to keep an eye on you guys," he restarted.

The fox's attention was immediately restored, and he turned back to the diplomat. "You know Keith?"

"I actually backed him up at the hearing the day before," Sythe continued. "Like I said, he was in a hurry, but he wanted to make sure he didn't leave you alone. And that's what Nibs and I are here for."

The sailors glanced at each other, then peered back at Sythe and his pet. Mrs. Nibbly waved at them again, then they looked back at each other once more.

"Better than nothing," Evals shrugged.

"I don't trust that squirrel though," Mike qualified.

Mrs. Nibbly sighed and put a paw to her head. Sythe decided to scratch her back to cheer her up a bit. "He doesn't mean that, Nibs. He'll warm up to you."

"His ponytail looks stupid too," Evals whispered to the fox.

"I am not cutting my hair!" Sythe boomed, then pointed a frustrated finger angrily at Mike's hairstyle. "And what about him, huh? His is arguably worse than mine!"

Evals watched Mike adjust his long, bushy orange and black hair from behind his head, fiddling with the light blue cloth strip keeping it tied back.

"Well, he's a fox," was the dog's justification.

"I get away with it," Mike stated, itching the back of his head.

"Yours..." Evals waved a hand in front of him, failing to find the words to describe Sythe's tastes. "It's just bad," he bluntly critiqued.

Sythe almost lost his composure for a third time in the past five minutes, and probably would have launched into an angry rant for the ages. Managing a band of unaware idiots was one thing, but flaming his sense of style was on a completely different order of magnitude.

Fortunately, logic got the better of his emotions, and it seemed highly likely that this would be a recurring theme with the two sailors. Maybe he was just being a bit sensitive. Overly so. Yes, he should reel it in a bit. Considering everything else that piqued his ire during his stay at the Isles, this was actually pretty tame.

He let that remark go with that in mind. "I'll get it trimmed," he lied, more than unwilling to part with a style that he had been sporting for who knows how long.

"Well, everyone has their thing," Mike shrugged. "That's our two cents there..."

"...but if you like it, keep it," Evals finished.

"But enough of that," Mike interposed. "You're the captain in standing, right?"

Sythe blinked, staggered by how quickly the two were willing to accept his opinion. "Uh, yeah. I talked to the Harbor Guard, too. They said it's okay since we're with the General, but..."

"We're off the hook?" Evals woofed.

"Sounds like," Mike replied.

"Then what are we still doing up here?" Evals asked back, pointing back down the stairs. "The party's down there."

"Great point," the fox nodded, then enthusiastically grinned at the diplomat. "Oh captain my captain!" he addressed.

"Would you care to join us in the galley?" Evals offered.

"Sir?" Mike appended the honorific.

Sythe blinked. "Sure, if nothing else is happening," he accepted hesitantly.

"Well we can't go anywhere without Keith," Evals pointed out. "If he comes back, he's going to need a ride."

"So we may as well enjoy the downtime while we have it," Mike added.

"We'll meet you down there," Evals grinned as he ducked back below deck.

"Love to have you!" Mike cheerfully waved to the wolf and squirrel, following Evals' lead.

Sythe waited for the thumping of their feet to quiet down, before looking at his companion, almost as if he was in need of advice. The squirrel didn't do much apart from turning its head to the side, like it was just as confused as he was.

"They're weird, I know," Sythe told Mrs. Nibbly as he got to his feet. He then walked around the trapdoor and started to descend the staircase the dog and fox were standing on.

"But at least they're a good weird," he said as he pulled the trapdoor back over its hinges and sealing off the stairs.

* * *

 

"It's an unscheduled meeting, yes. But it's also urgent," Keith informed his friend as he finished tiding up his uniform. It was good that he was wearing it when Natani teleported him here. Appearing in front of the Wolf King himself in nothing but his common wear would have immediately killed his credibility as an ambassador.

"You think he'll understand? About The Fang and Domino?" Natani skeptically asked after a small sip of coffee.

"It'll probably take a bit," the Basitin admitted. "Trying to convince him his army's main supplier is trying to instigate a war is going to be hard enough."

"I think he'll be open to the idea if he knows he tried blowing your town up."

"That would just make my proposition absurd," Keith shook his head. "They try bombing us and now we want peace out of it? Too passive."

Natani shrugged her agreement through another swig of coffee. "You sure you don't need me for anything?"

"Palace guards will probably be more than competent, Nat," Keith confided. "Why? Do you have somewhere to be?"

"Well," Natani cleared her throat. "Clovis found a lead to where Domino's hiding, and I thought, if you're going to be on the speaking front, I may as well do the behind-the-scenes stuff, if you know what I mean."

"You're going to capture him?"

"That's the idea. We'll be with him, Zen and one of their friends. With four people, I don't think we'll have anything go bad."

Keith pointed accusingly at the wolf. "You really need to quit saying that."

"What did I do now?"

"Have many times have we said something like 'nothing is going to go wrong' and then actually saw that play out?"

"That's cute, Keith, but I don't believe in jinxes," Natani raised an eyebrow, confidently grinning at her companion.

"Always saw you as a realist."

"Nothing wrong with just taking things as they come," the wolf added. "It's how Zen and I have been living, and it's been treating us pretty nicely."

"Well, can you at least do me a favor and not kill him for me?" Keith requested. "I think Adelaide would want to get a good trial out of him in front of the Forest Wolves."

"I'll do what I can," Natani replied, finishing off her drink. "No promises, though."

"No, don't 'no promises' me this time," Keith sternly commanded. "We need him alive. I don't care what happens while you're in there. Domino needs to come back in one piece."

The assassin would have joked a bit more, but Keith's expression quickly made her think twice about that. He was being gravely, palpably serious this time. Understandably so. If Domino came back dead, then, with nothing except Zen's intel linking The Fang to the Basitins, and just rampant speculation past that, the Basitins would never be convinced Keith had solved their problem with the Keidran. This was critical: Domino could not die this time.

Natani understood exactly what her friend needed. "Right. I'll get it done," she nodded, focused.

"Thank you, Nat," the Basitin slowly smiled with prestige. "And, please be careful."

"You don't have a lot of faith in me alone, do you?" Natani prodded.

"I never said that," Keith defended. "Just make sure you and Zen are back for dinner. Alright?"

He leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his upper legs. "For me?"

The room's atmosphere became noticeably more tender, out of Keith's concern for the wolf. She was a little stunned by how dramatically it morphed over such a short period. All she could do was blink back at her friend for a second, waiting for her mouth to unlock itself. "Yeah," she quietly agreed. "I can do that." Nothing happened after the wolf gave her response, and apart from a couple of creaking floor boards, there wasn't any noise either.

Natani pointed at Keith and then back at her, her hand oscillating between the two positions like the pendulum on a clock. "Did you want to..."

Keith looked down, though he wasn't sure why, and then went back to Natani. "Quick one?"

"Sure," Natani accepted as the two friends rose from their chairs and met off to the side of the table. It was a fraternal hug in a way, but the relationship was a little more...involved, Natani felt. A small tingle danced up her spine as her tail hooked onto Keith's for a brief moment.

"You  _are_  going to be safe, right?" Keith reassured himself.

"Yeah, you worry about yourself, Shorty," Natani retaliated, softly laughing to herself. She liked being with Keith, the only person who knew who she really was that wasn't a blood relative. And it was intimate moments like this one that helped her remember exactly why she's been with him all this time. She rested her muzzle on the top of his head in pontification. Sure, it may have been a little demeaning to his height, but he didn't mind.

The wolf's right ear jumped up as it caught someone whistling a tune from upstairs. "Gods Save The King," if she knew the melody at all, and her face went red as she remembered a very, very crucial but forgotten detail.

Clovis marched down the stairs, about ready to break into the interlude, but his notes dropped into a downward spiraling glissando as caught full sight of the Basitin and wolf, their tails interlocked with the other. Clovis just stood on the stairs, gawking at the scene, trying to look as dignified as he could but struggling to do so to any satisfactory degree.

Natani blushed again and peered over to the half-fox. Keith leaned over to his side to look around the mage and blankly stared at Clovis, unfazed by the intrusion.

Clovis softly put his hands together and cleared his throat. "So...um, here's what I'll do," he explained, slowly backing his way up the stairs. "I...am going to go back up there..." he slowly stated, pointing towards the upper floor of the house. "...then come back down the stairs. Yeah? And, um, when I do, I sincerely hope that...the scene will be a bit more familiar, if you know what I'm getting at."

He continued to backpedal up to the second floor. "Just...take your time. I'll..." he continued to stammer. "I'll be back in a second." He finally disappeared out of their sight, leaving them be in the kitchen once again.

Keith blinked and disengaged himself from Natani. "How did he get up there to begin with?"

"I forgot he spent the night," Natani grumbled, covering her eyes with her hand. "He came in late with news on Domino and..."

"Didn't want to leave?"

"I hate him so much," Natani disappointedly shook her head, as Clovis rigidly walked back down the stairs. He was visibly more comfortable with the second take.

"That's...much better," he stated as he walked towards the kitchen's stove.

Keith sat himself back down. "Uh...Clovis, right?"

"It's  _Prince_  Clovis, to be precise, but seeing as how nobody ever seems to pick up on that, yes, you're technically correct," the half-fox replied as he flipped open a cupboard and removed one of Natani's mugs from it.

"...sure," Keith hesitantly accepted the explanation. "In any case, I know that Natani's actually a girl." The wolf cringed as he said that. Even if Clovis already knew, she didn't like people telling her that she was still a girl.

Clovis immediately perked up. "Oh, do you, now?"

"So, whatever you thought we were doing when you came downstairs..."

"Oh, thank heavens. That is a  _gigantic_  relief," Clovis interrupted, taking the black water kettle off the stove and emptying it some of it into his hijacked mug. Seeing as how Natani had just recently used it for her coffee, the water was still quite warm, as steam vapors floated off of the top. He placed it back down and then shot a skeptical glance towards the wolf.

"Don't look at me like that. I was trying to keep your cover! You know, try and be nice?"

"I'm more interested in the fact that your shirt is gone," Natani pointed at the half-fox's fully exposed, slender, light yellow and white furred upper body. Indeed, Clovis was only sporting his black trousers this morning, and the shirt he had worn on his way into Natani's abode the night before had completely vanished.

"Ah, yes, that," the half-fox noted, examining himself disinterestedly. "I lacked a shirt to wear today, and my last one was in horrible need for a wash. Lesser of two evils." He explored the remainder of Natani's cupboards as well.

"Wouldn't happen to have anything in the tea department, would you?" he inquired courteously.

"Second one from the right," Natani groaned.

"Splendid," Clovis smiled as he took the wolf's advice.

"And would it have killed you to..." Natani lost her words. "I don't know, wear the same shirt twice?"

Clovis twitched and almost spilt the hot water onto his feet. "Wear the same shirt twice? How gauche do you think I am?" he incredulously demanded.

"Apparently enough to the point where you wear the same red cloak every day," Natani retaliated.

"Oh, that's adorable. You think it's the same cloak," Clovis crooned as he flicked open another cupboard and removed an earl grey teabag from the box inside. "Ah, perfect."

Natani couldn't readily think of another counterargument to that. Yes, Clovis had a ton of gold to his name, but even then he had to do such frivolous things with it such as purchasing copies of the exact same cloak just so he could avoid wearing the same one on consecutive days. Instead, she exhaled with exasperation and started massaging the top of her muzzle, close to the base. "You're unbelievable," she muttered.

"I'm glad you think so," Clovis chortled as he dunked the bag into the hot water. "So, would you like to join us for our little outing today?"

"Thought I already was," Natani remarked.

"Simply formally extending the offer, was all," Clovis elaborated as he paced towards the Basitin and wolf. "I like this plan. Under the guise of diplomacy, we are actually covertly yanking the rug out from underneath one of the most violent groups I've had the pleasure of knowing." He sighed gloriously and collapsed into one of the chairs lackadaisically. The tea sloshed around in his mug, some it flying up out off of the lip but landing back in the mug anyways.

"Today is going to be a good day," he concluded with a smile as he jiggled the bag a few more times.

"You still need a shirt, Clovis," the assassin blandly remanded.

"You seem to be under the impression that I intend to go like this for the rest of the day."

"Cut him some slack, Nat. It's actually kind of hot outside today."

"Thank you for the defense, General, but I will be leaving soon to change my attire," Clovis replied. He removed the damp bag from the mug and slapped it onto the table.

"And, actually, Natani, I'm going to insist that you come with me," the half-fox clarified as he tested the brew. Tea, though much more common than wine, was still a gentleman's drink, and Clovis took it like anything else. He shut his eyes, gave the scent a good sniff, and held it as he tasted the fruits of his labor.

Natani shot him a skeptical response. "As delightful as that sounds, I'll pass," she blankly declined. She waited for Clovis to say something back, but he continued to sit with his eyes closed, his hands gently holding the mug in front of him, his mind savoring the beverage for every second that it could.

"Clovis?" Natani tried to grab his attention.

Keith slid his chair out and walked over to the dreaming spymaster. "I've got this," he rolled his eyes as he drew his sword out from his belt. He pointed the tip towards Clovis' neck and, with absolutely no intentions of harming him, as much as the wolf would have enjoyed seeing it, gave it a light poke.

The half-fox snapped out of his tea trance and flinched wildly, again managing to both spill and not spill his drink as he did so. He looked down at the blade, then back up at Keith, and disapprovingly shook his head. "You people never let me have a moment, do you?"

"For something as critical to our relations as this is, we'd appreciate you taking it a little more seriously," Keith reprimanded.

Clovis put a hand up and used his index finger to divert the sword's point away from his neck. "Spoken like a true diplomat, if we disregard the obvious," he agreed, turning his attention back to the wolf.

"The reason I make the offer, Natani, is to allow you to resupply as I get changed. I don't make bets, but I'd wager you left most of your gear on the island, didn't you?"

Natani mentally ran through the items that got teleported with her when she left. "I think I'm good actually," she tentatively stated. She had her mana reserve, her knives, her adventuring outfit. So far, everything she needed, she had.

Clovis shrugged. "Regardless, I'd love for you to come anyways. Might be something you didn't even know you needed, hmm?" he smirked.

Natani's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I say 'yes,' are you?"

"It'll be a quick detour, nothing more," the half-fox assured through another drink of tea. "Once we're ready, we'll go call on Blitz and Zen while the General here talks to His Majesty, and the five of us together will deal with this problem once and for all. Doesn't sound like a bad plan to me."

The wolf looked over at Keith, and Clovis raised an eyebrow as she did so. "You're concerned about something," he deduced from behind his mug.

She hesitated for a brief second. "I was actually going to escort Keith to the palace," she explained.

Keith warmly smiled at his companion. "Nat, it's nice, but really, I think I'll be okay."

"You think," she repeated.

"I know," he revised.

"Can I just follow you to the front gates? It'll make me feel better. The Fang could be anywhere."

"On an unscheduled visit to the palace, Natani? I don't think they'll be onto me like that."

Natani readied another counterpoint, but Keith shushed her before she could vocalize it. "It's nice that you have my back, but if you're going on this raid with Clovis, you should take him up and trust that I know what I'm doing."

Natani thought about that for a moment, and then sighed as she drew the obvious conclusion, mentally kicking herself. Keith was more than competent when it came to watching his own back. And he was right when he said that The Fang would have no idea that he was even heading out at the moment. Plus, it wasn't even that far of a walk, or at least not comparatively, considering the magnanimous size of the wolf capital.

She bowed her head. "You're right," she sighed, disappointed in herself. "Domino's too important. If you think you can manage..."

"Which I can," Keith interjected.

The wolf smiled slightly. "Then I'll leave you be with the king, alright?"

The Basitin nodded warmly in response. "Sounds good," he grinned.

Clovis downed the rest of his drink while the two friends hammered out the rest of the plan. "Spectacular!" he cheered, heartily slamming the mug onto the table like a rowdy tavern client would do onto a bar.

He wiped his mouth clean and toothily grinned at his two newest assets. "Then let's go catch ourselves a mercenary, shall we?"

* * *

 

Chapter 26

Crowd after crowd of Keidran rushed past Keith on the overly packed street. A few of them stared him as they passed, not used to seeing an outsider quite like him in the city before. He didn't mind it and indifferently pressed on towards the inner city. Time was not really on his side. Domino could have been trying something else at the moment, and it was critical he met with the Wolf King to preserve peace before he did so.

Provided, of course, he even had a chance to pull off his latest trick. With four highly trained contract assassins - well, technically three highly trained contract assassins and the guy that liked to annoy them every now and again - now bearing down on his hideout, he'd be lucky to even get a word in before he was taken down and brought in before the Basitin court. If he was more simple-minded, he'd wonder why he was even going off to see the Wolf King in the first place, if he was this certain that his friends were all but solving his problem for him.

And the answer was that, even if Domino was captured and convicted, the Basitins relationship with the Forest Wolves would still be damaged, seeing as how the war-crazed mercenary happened to be of their blood. This was an excellent time for Keith to drive away that side effect, by possibly persuading the King to crack down on these sorts of internal threats, start policing the mercenary groups and make sure that whatever Domino tried to pull doesn't happen again. That alone would likely keep the two nations' relations intact, quite possibly make it better than it originally was.

That prospect pushed Keith even more quickly down the road, offhandedly ignoring anything that didn't have to do with this mission.

It was one he had to complete.

* * *

 

Zen gathered up the dishes from his breakfast with the two Foxes and gently set them off to the side of the sink, as Kayle prepared a hot water bath for them. Blitz spun his knife in his hand a few more times, trying to make sure it was still in good working condition. He would have helped out with the cleaning, but Zen seemed to be doing a much better job than he ever could have managed. Plus, after catching him and Kayle in the same bed as he woke up this morning, it was good to see the wolf readily take his spot at the waterworks. Blitz wasn't quite sure if Zen was over there out of fear, embarrassment, or simply because he wanted to help, but whatever. It made the elder fox's life easier in the long run, and right now that was all he could ask for.

Though, he did feel a little obligated to lend a hand anyways. For somebody who just survived one of the scariest scrapes of her life, Kayle looked surprisingly energetic this morning. And Blitz suspected it had something to do with his lupine visitor. In fact, it probably had everything to do with Zen, come to think of it. After finding Kayle hiding in the kitchen of her tavern in the condition she was in, Zen staunchly refused to leave her side. Blitz held nothing but respect for that wolf afterwards, and it was likely because of him that Kayle was back to her normal self. Somewhat. He'd bet that she was still thinking on the events of that night with some part of her brain, and would likely continue to do so for a while. It would be a long time before she finally recovered from that.

But it was hard to deny that she was already starting an amazing recovery, and it was all thanks to Zen. Blitz flipped his knife shut as he watched the wolf and vixen get to work.

He made a good decision, he thought.

He would have reminisced longer about his niece and her new friend had someone else not arrived at his front door. Promptly, Blitz pocketed his knife and strode over to open it. He was not impressed by the result.

Clovis stared at Blitz, his hands slipped into his trouser pockets, his slim black shirt rustling in the wind like a flag. Behind him, Natani stood as politely as she could manage. Arms held behind her back, feet shoulder width apart, trying to look professional and approachable.

Apart from the wind and the clinking dishes from the kitchen, the doorway and its immediate proximity were quiet. The half-fox decided to break it. Zen was right. Blitz did need an apology. And not just one of those trivial ones he liked to toss around whenever he was just messing with somebody.

_Might as well get that out of the way first_ , he decided as he cleared his throat. "I think I owe you an..." Clovis started to say, before he was jabbed right in his abdomen. The wind got thrown out of him with an audible  _huff_  as Blitz's kidney shot dropped the spymaster to his knees almost right away. Natani did react to the situation. And by react, she more descriptively raised an eyebrow at the pain-stricken half-fox, and not much more beyond that. Generally, most people she knew would gradually come to hate Clovis after a while, but this Polar Fox just cut right to the chase with it. No wonder Zen liked working with him. She's known Blitz for all of five seconds and already she liked him.

"That's for not doing the sensible thing about that intel!" he growled from behind his facemask, fist still clenched. Clovis softly gripped his abdomen, trying to muffle the pain resounding in his gut. His eyes were glued shut in concentration, trying to force the pain out of his system. He continued kneeling there, painfully doubled over and wheezing for air.

Then the fox took a step forward, and opened up his hand to Clovis. The hybrid finally reopened his eyes and glanced at it disdainfully at first, like he was being offered change. He looked back up at Blitz, still out of breath and heavily panting, trying to reclaim it.

"And this is for helping Kayle," he added in a much friendlier tone. The half-fox grimaced as he glared back up at Blitz momentarily, then finally grabbed his wrist in acceptance as he was yanked back up to his feet.

* * *

 

Keith noticed the keep coming up before him a good few hundred yards before he reached it, its spires poking up above the cityscape's horizon, like a mountain range would in the countryside. When he finally approached it, after another fifteen minutes or so of walking, he was actually awe struck by exactly how enormous the building actually was. He never would have thought that Basitin palace architecture would or could be one upped in this manner, but he was glad to see that he was proven sorely wrong by this observation.

The building was made out of the expected cobblestone, a neat, smoothly textured grey forming the majority of the castle's exterior. The walkway up to it was made of red and black brick, alternating every few rows like a checkerboard. After a small length, the path divided into two, each one circumnavigating its way around an ornate fountain, sculpted out of what Keith could only assume was polished black and white granite. The two bricked roads rejoined and continued to tread up the hill upon which the keep rested, where two half-plate armored guards kept watch at the front doors.

Keith took his time navigating his way to the Wolf King's abode, still staggered and impressed by how seriously tribal government was taken in Keidran society. He had talked to various leaders of towns and small nations before, but as far as full tribal leaders were concerned, this was the first time Keith had tried it. Adelaide would probably be quite jealous had she visited here. This would likely be some of the details he'd leave out in his report.

He finished his journey across the red-and-black brick road, and snapped to attention in front of the two wolves. He made a fist with his right hand, pushed it against his left shoulder, and bowed courteously as he began to talk. "I'd like to request entrance to the keep," he politely requested.

"The King isn't seeing anybody at the moment," the guard on the left immediately replied. "Who are you, exactly?"

"My name is Keith Keiser, Ambassador-General to the Eastern Basidian Isles. It is urgent that I speak with His Majesty as quickly as possible."

"It's not that simple, sir," spoke the one on the right. "King Rammstein is extremely busy at the moment. He won't have time to..."

"I'm certain he will," Keith argued back, as he dug through his pants pocket for a piece of parchment, his diplomatic immunity statement. He handed it to the left guard as he continued speaking. "That's from the desk of King Adelaide herself, if you don't believe me. I'm here in response to the Basitin situation."

"In a good way or bad?" the second guard asked as his comrade perused the note.

"I know Sythe. We talked at the Isles and we think we can get our problems solved peacefully," Keith continued. "If you want out of a war you didn't want to start, then I think you'd best let me through the doors."

The wolf on the right turned back to his partner. He finished reading the paper and handed it back to Keith before acknowledging his friend. "It checks out," he replied.

"Then I think His Majesty will want to see you now," said the second guard as he put a hand to the large door behind him.

* * *

 

Clovis marched down the back alley with his three agents, escorting them to Domino's alleged location. To be objective, he would have much preferred to figure out where he was through a more credible source, but his spellcraft was remarkably well done, if he could say so himself. So he was acting on it anyways.

Zen kept his eyes to the ground, looking for any sewage grates or covers that could lead to The Fang's entrance. "You sure we're going to the right spot, Clovis?"

"Absolutely," the half-fox affirmed, testing the clamp on his recently returned cloak. "Nobody has ever lied through that spell before, and I believe that is still the case."

His ears flipped up and he turned to the newest member of his party. "Which reminds me, Natani. I think I have something in our bag for Zen. Mind digging it out?"

Natani flipped the backpack over her shoulder and loosened the knot tied around the mouth. "What am I getting him?" she requested.

"You'll know it when you see it," Clovis vaguely answered as he turned his eyes back to the floor.

Natani rolled her eyes and jammed a hand into the sack. Her hand jostled almost every single adventuring supply the half-fox could be bothered to toss in there: potions, mana crystals, first aid kits, magicked rings...

Something  _clink_ ed inside the bag as Natani pushed what felt like a large, metal cylinder off to the side. She grabbed it, and slowly liberated Zen's wrist blade from its burlap prison.

"I thought you were missing something, mate," Blitz remarked, clicking and clacking his knife behind the two wolves.

"Completely forgot about that," Zen sheepishly smiled at his younger sibling. Natani narrowly leered at the other Magi Brother with ridicule.

"You're a horrible person, Zen," she criticized, trying not to let him see the playful smile slowly creeping up on her face.

"Yes, please remember to pick up your toys next time?" Clovis patronizingly called over his shoulder.

"Thank you, Clovis," Zen sarcastically replied as Natani tossed him the gauntlet. He caught it in his left hand and promptly slipped it onto his right wrist, securing the leather straps to a comfortable level of tightness.

Clovis put his hand to his head to transmit a message in the meantime. "Thom, how are things on your end?"

" _We're at Greyfield and 12th, sir. We're ready to begin infiltration whenever you are._ "

"Standby, we'll be ready in a moment," Clovis instructed as Zen slid the blade in and out of the gauntlet a few times to test it.

"Who was that, boss?" Blitz asked as he clicked his knife shut again.

"I got a few volunteers to form an auxiliary team while Natani and I geared up. We'll meet them down there," Clovis informed. Not long after, the alley spat the four canines out onto Post Street, right in front of the building the street was named for. It was still relatively early in the morning, and thus few people were out on the street currently. Those who were sparsely populated it, either using the road as a means to get somewhere else or simply waiting outside the various businesses, impatiently waiting for the "Closed" signs in the windows to be flipped over.

The company turned left, hiked for a bit longer, and then Clovis started rubbing his hands excitedly as he noticed the thin metal cylinder placed in the street. Zen checked over his shoulder, as did Blitz, and once they confirmed nobody would be watching, they nodded to the spymaster directly. Both he and Natani knelt down, dug their fingers underneath the cover, and lifted it up off of the sewer entrance. Clovis found the lid to be slightly heavier than he had initially assumed, but it was nice to have someone as strong as Natani was as support.

Natani waved a hand in front of her face as the vapors wafted up and out into the air. Zen had to pinch his nose for a few moments as well to stifle the stench. Blitz silently laughed to himself and let his bandana do all of the stink mitigation work for him.

Clovis would have done something about it as well, if he wasn't still talking to his assistant at the time. With one hand against his head, he used the second to grip the rusted access ladder, and he slowly worked his way down into the underpass, the two Magi Brothers and Blitz following shortly behind.

"Thom, we're in. Let's have at it."

* * *

 

The two guards from out front hastily showed Keith through the keep, towards Rammstein's quarters. The lengthy passageways occasionally broke free of the monotonous grey masonry with colorful landscape paintings, some of which took up entire sections of wall in between the side rooms. A few ancient but well-preserved tapestries extended vertically down from the ceiling, some of which, Keith assumed, had to be in the area of centuries old.

He couldn't say he wasn't surprised. Wolf culture, or rather just Keidran culture in general, wasn't that much unlike the Basitin's in that respect. Family and honor were arguably the two most important components of both, and was important that each of them incorporated the other. Honor your family and lineage, and you will be honored in their name. It was a virtue Keith had heard repeatedly in his youth, and still puzzled over to this day. But there was no time for that at the moment, as the Great Hall's large and prolific doors were gradually pushed open by his escorts.

Again, Keith was impressed by the interior of the Great Hall. It reminded him of his homeland's Parliament a bit, though fortunately without the demeaning witness stand. Instead, the keep's featured room looked more like a dining hall than anything else. A very lengthy table ran down the center of the room, with no less than twenty chairs set along the sides. No artificial light sources were present, if Keith was willing to discount the four evenly spaced candle holders set on the table itself. Instead, an array of multicolored stained glass windows provided all of the light the room needed during the daytime, the natural sunlight being projected onto the carpeted floor in various reds, greens, browns and blues.

The two guards continued forward to the far end of the expansive table, as Keith drew closer to two Keidran currently in that area of the hall. One of them was seated in the ornate throne at the head of the table: a light brown and white furred specimen of a Forest Wolf. Keith could only presume that was King Rammstein, but he probably never would have arrived at that conclusion if he wasn't seated where he was. His dress was very conservative for a Keidran royal; he didn't wear any excessive amounts of jewelry or expensive clothing. In fact, apart from the royal family's signet on his right hand and the relatively heavy green and black cloak, he could have easily been mistaken for a commoner. He exhaled onto his rounded glasses and used the lower part of his grey linen shirt to clean them off. He was currently listening to a lecture by one of his advisors, and judging from his posture, it was probably a safe bet that Rammstein wasn't hearing this lecture for the first time.

"You must understand that the Basitins have to respond to this," the vizier rambled as Rammstein replaced his glasses back on his nose. "Even if Sythe was successful, and we can't be certain that he was, they will want to know why this happened in our territory."

"And they will have their answers," Rammstein calmly reassured. "After we preserve the peace. We can worry about mending our relationship once we make sure that there will even be one to mend."

"I must have arrived at an excellent time then," Keith audaciously spoke up, not bothering to be introduced to the king.

Rammstein's advisor seemed to take offense to that, and stood up to glare at the visitor. "And who are you to address His Majesty on such a subject?" he demanded.

"Markus, calm," Rammstein bade as he rose from his seat as well to inspect the Basitin for a moment. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're from the Basidian Isles. Eastern, right?"

"Your memory serves you well," Keith replied, bowing respectfully. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness."

Rammstein quickly waved him up in response. "No need to stand on ceremony. If your uniform says anything, I'd think we're all here for the same thing."

Keith promptly righted his stature. "I say you can never be too careful at the start, Your Majesty."

"Smart man," Rammstein noted, pushing his glasses a bit further up on his face. "So I am correct in saying you might be here to save our relations?"

Keith nodded back, slipping his arms behind his back. "I thought that this would be the best place to start."

"That it is," the old wolf grinned as he offered a hand to the Basitin. "I'm Rammstein. King of the Forest Wolves."

Keith almost immediately reached out to accept it. "Keith Keiser," he introduced himself. "Ambassador-General, Eastern Basidian Isles."

* * *

 

Natani had to pull her shirt over her nose as Clovis guided her and her friends through the mazelike sluiceways below the city. Despite The Fang agent telling him the hideout was below the street, he unfortunately didn't specify where, and that was a puzzle Clovis was trying to solve. Without any clues, though, it was glorified guesswork mostly, and whether the half-fox led his company through an intersection or turned them left or right was pretty much left up to whichever way he felt like going at the time.

And Zen seemed to be picking up on that as well. "You have no idea where we're going, do you?"

"A general idea is better than none," Clovis immediately retorted, refusing to admit that he was, by definition, lost in the catacombs.

Zen didn't like that answer, but accepted it anyways. Domino was somewhere down here, Clovis knew that much at the least. Though he would have been much happier if he knew exactly how far out they were from him.

He glanced around the sewers trying to find something else to hold his attention while he waited. The stagnant wastewater river he walked alongside on an elevated brick track? Boring. A rat skittering along on the far side, almost mocking the pace at which he was progressing down here? Pathetic.

"Where did you get that blade, anyways?" Blitz curiously asked, pointing his knife at Zen's wrist.

Zen pulled the gauntlet up closer to his face and slid the blade out, displaying it to the fox. "Nat got for me as a birthday gift," he happily explained, finally engaged in something interesting. "This little trigger near the thumb releases a spring that pops the blade out. Then, if I need to pull it back..."

Natani smiled from behind her shirt, pleased to hear that Zen had good company to talk to, and then glared at Clovis skeptically as she noticed that he was effectively using this moment to get directions. His right hand was jammed against the side of his head, and although his whispering was probably enough to escape Zen's hearing, she definitely heard most of it.

"Fine, I'll admit it! I'm lost, alright?" the half-fox furiously but quietly yelled. "Where are you at?"

" _We found the door, sir. We're just waiting on you,_ " Thom replied with composure.

"That didn't answer my question. Where are you now?"

" _You just passed us, sir,_ " the tiger informed, waving at Clovis' troupe as they marched across the main tunnel entrance.

Clovis halted midstride and instinctively looked everywhere for a moment in confusion. First down the hall at Thom's team, then behind him at the two wolves and Blitz, then back at Thom, who was still waving at him for some reason, then the medium sized metal door in front of them, then back to Natani, who still couldn't believe he was trying to put the idea that he knew exactly where he was going over her and her brother, then he snapped his hand back down to his side and briskly jogged over to his lieutenant before the situation could get any more awkward.

"This is the entrance then?" he asked, permitting the rest of his party to catch up to him.

"Only doorway directly under Post Street. I like our odds," Thom agreed.

"Should we let them know we're here?" Clovis grinned toothily as he drew a couple mana crystals out of his pockets.

"By all means, sir," Thom complied as he took a step backwards toward his volunteer army. He knew what was going to happen next as Clovis began his incantation.

Blitz put a hand on each of the lupine brothers' shoulders. "You two might want to think about backing up too," he warned. Zen did so right away, but Natani waited for a few seconds to study exactly what Clovis would be casting.

The half-fox released his grip on the crystals, allowing them to float in midair momentarily. Then they shifted color into an intense, burning amber and Natani immediately jumped back as soon as she recognized the spell.

Clovis outstretched a palm to the door, gripped the wrist with his other hand, and then yelled "Incaendo!" at the top of his voice as a large fireball erupted from the two crystals and blew the metal door off of its hinges in a fantastic explosion.

* * *

 

"I apologize for the sad state of my quarters," Rammstein stated as he unlocked the door to his business chamber. "I don't receive guests that often, and..." He paused to think of the right word as he slipped his key ring back into his pocket.

"Let's just say that, between you and the Humans, we've had our hands a little full," he finished as he slowly slid the door open. Despite his country being on the bad side of a potential three-way war, Rammstein was surprisingly level-headed given the circumstances. Keith supposed that may have had something to do with his age, for with it came wisdom and composure. Rammstein was not ancient by any definition, but he was old enough to the point where not much got him excited.

Keith admired people like that. He found negotiations and talks went over much better when the opposing party was not only calmed, but was going to stay like that. The king also reminded him of Adelaide, their professional objectiveness blended with familiarity almost copied from each other. For those reasons, Keith felt quite at home inside the wolf's keep. Keith was quite content being a native to the Basidian Isles, but had he been born into a family of Forest Wolves, he would not have minded working under Rammstein at all.

The king showed Keith inside, and provided how morose Rammstein sounded about the state of his office, it didn't look that awful to the Basitin. Sure, the desk seemed a little out of order, with a myriad of letters, reports and other papers scattered across it like someone trying to read a few too many newspaper articles at once, but Keith didn't find that to be necessarily a bad thing. Seeing all parts of a problem, Keith found, actually made solving it come much more easily, and that was likely what Rammstein was trying to do here.

The king finished ushering the general inside and undid the silver clasp securing his cape around his neck. "As much as I love this cloak, it gets quite hot in the summertime," he critiqued as he walked behind his desk and draped it over the back of his chair. "Feel free to take a seat, by the way."

Keith graciously accepted as he placed himself across from Rammstein. "What were arguing with your advisor about earlier? If I could ask?"

"He was worried about Sythe and what would happen to us following that hearing," Rammstein clarified as he sat himself down in the intricately decorated chair. "You wouldn't know him by chance, would you?"

"We're not close or anything, but we know each other, yes."

"Great to hear," the wolf nodded. "I always found these sorts of things to go by much more smoothly when you're with someone familiar."

"Very true," Keith agreed, resetting his position in the chair.

"In any case, Markus thought you'd still be upset that, even if we get this little incident fixed, there's a good chance that our relations would still be...strained, if that's a good word here."

"Sounds about right."

"Which is one of the larger reasons I believe you're here to see me, and why I'm so glad to see you," Rammstein added, opening a drawer near the bottom of his desk. Keith just watched him for a few moments as he extracted a few pieces of parchment and some inked quills. Rammstein set himself up as an improvised scribe, ready to record any details about their prospective agreement.

"Now then, General," he proposed after clearing his throat. "What do you know right now that I don't?"

* * *

 

"Room clear!" yelled one of Thom's subordinates.

"This is absurd," Clovis muttered under his breath.

"This one's empty too," called another.

"So is this one," informed Blitz.

"I think it's abandoned," Zen pointed out as he finished searching a fourth room with Natani.

"You don't say!" Clovis hissed back. Frustration was settling in, the one emotion that Clovis had the hardest time trying to properly manage. Here he was, at a location he was explicitly told Domino was at, and yet, after at least twenty minutes of searching the hideout and almost every room contained in it, he had received no return whatsoever. He wasn't sure whether this constituted annoying, infuriating or aggravating frustration, so he assumed it was all three. The worst kind there was.

Clovis picked up a few papers tossed onto a table, rifled through them disinterestedly and then threw them away. "Is there anywhere we  _haven't_  looked yet?" he demanded. He was  _certain_  that this location had to hold something of importance, even if it wasn't Domino. Another map, another mission, another scheme, something. And he would not leave here empty handed as long as he had something to say about it.

"Has anyone been in here yet?" Zen asked from the chamber's main lobby. Clovis and the rest of his party convened there, paying mind not to step on any of the still warm metal shards from when the half-fox exploded the front door. So far, both Thom and Clovis had been searching the numerous hallways spreading out from this main area and the rooms within them. This was likely under the assumption that, if Domino was going to be somewhere, he'd likely want to be as far away from them as possible, in as discrete a location as possible.

Which was why the large double doors at the far end of the main room went completely unmolested until Zen called attention to them. Much like the other rooms they had searched, this one was likely devoid of life as well, as any agents inside likely would have reacted to their intrusion by this point. Natani walked up to the right side of the door and tested the knob.

"It's unlocked," she stated, glancing back to her brother and the spymaster for further instruction.

Clovis thought that her next action should have gone without saying. "Then what are you waiting for?" he whispered, still trying to vent and purge his stress.

Zen moved up behind Natani, preparing to back her up for whatever lied within. Clovis also moved over to the other half of the door with Blitz. The four spies nodded in unison as Natani threw open the door, inviting them to storm the room inside.

It seemed to be one of the larger personal rooms in the hideout, likely for Domino or one of his more important agents. But that didn't alter the fact that neither him nor anybody else was in the room at this time. Natani put a hand to her forehead. Zen sighed heavily. Clovis maniacally grinned with his hands clenched, on the verge of strangling something. Blitz shrugged as if to say, "Oh, well," and started playing with his knife again.

Zen glanced over at the half-fox, and for once in his life actually felt a little bit concerned for his well being. "Clovis, do you need a glass of water or something?"

The bottom half of his eye twitched as he rigidly turned to the wolf. "Perfectly fine," he softly but unnervingly replied, like somebody who just escaped a mental ward. This was one of the drawbacks of loving control, whenever he felt like somebody was one step ahead of him or just outright ignoring his plans. Despite his almost always calm demeanor, the half-fox did have a remarkably short temper, ignited only by situations like this.

Which was why, as much as Natani would have readily argued the contrary, she elected not to do so. "Well, we're here," she pointed out as she started searching the office. "Might as well see if there's anything useful."

Blitz's face enthusiastically lit up as he patted Clovis' shoulder. "Yeah, it's an intel hunt, boss. You like those, right?" he enthusiastically tried to revive his employer.

"You three really are clueless, aren't you?" Clovis seethed as he paced towards the desk.

Zen was less than fond of that remark. "Clovis?"

"We staged this entire operation for the sole purpose of finding Domino. I spend money and resources on a leak that I know for a fact is credible, and then this happens!"

He stamped over in front of the desk, arms crossed, his eyes one spark away from catching fire altogether. "We have spent too much time looking for this slippery little bastard, and I'm not about to lose it all right now because we can't find him! Now  _where is he?_ " he boomed. He then immediately turned around and slammed his hands onto the wooden desk behind him. Neither Blitz nor the brothers dared to say a word back to him, letting the dank, stale atmosphere of the hideout and the surrounding sewers provide all the necessary ambiance for a while.

Clovis stared down at the desk, not having the will necessary to look back up at the moment. "Just one clue," he whispered, almost like he was praying. "Just one hint to where..." His eyes slowly peered down the rest of the desk's width, and then noticed a very curiously placed scrap of paper, neatly folded and placed in the direct center of it.

His hand immediately jumped forward, snatching it and hastily unfolding it. Even if it wasn't relevant to Domino, he wanted something,  _anything_  to look into. He didn't care if it involved The Fang, their crazed leader or anything they were planning...

He finally read the note and felt his spine go cold as he noticed it involved all three.

* * *

 

"It's worse than I thought then," Rammstein remarked, scribbling down notes onto his parchment stack. "And you're positive that they're behind this?"

"One of my contacts found evidence that linked them directly to the war band that attacked me and the spy at my hearing," Keith clarified. "They wanted to get us sucked in and then profit off the war that followed."

"I see," Rammstein acknowledged, adjusting his glasses again. "That is disappointing. We've done business with The Fang multiple times in the past. I never thought they'd be capable of something like this."

"The spy didn't like the fact I managed to get a ceasefire out of it either. He tried bombing Parliament the day after."

Rammstein's eyebrows jumped up, and that was about as emotional as his reaction got. "A bomb, you say?"

Keith nodded solemnly, recognizing exactly how sensitive this subject had gotten. "My escort uncovered the plot and stopped it before it could escalate, but needless to say, my people are not too thrilled that this almost happened."

"I can imagine," the wolf sorrowfully concurred. "Who is your escort, by the way? Would it be someone I know?"

"His name's Natani," Keith answered. "He usually works with his brother?"

"The Magi Brothers, of course," Rammstein nodded reminiscently. "I remember them distinctly. They've been very useful to us in the past."

* * *

 

_C-_

_KxQ. Your move._

_-D_

* * *

 

"The contact I mentioned earlier was actually his brother," Keith continued to explain, bantering about his assets like one would with a sports team.

"I hope your king helps you cover their costs," the wolf stated. "There's a reason they don't come cheap."

"I'm pretty good friends with Natani, and Zen actually owes us a favor or two, so I'm good."

"Sounds like they've worked for you well so far?" Rammstein inquired as he reorganized his notes.

"They have," the Basitin responded with esteem. "If Zen didn't find those notes on Domino and the bombs, we probably wouldn't be talking right now."

"Hey, hey, wait now," the wolf hastily spoke as he rifled through his notes again. He didn't interrupt Keith, which the Basitin supposed was his way of displaying courtesy to his guests. Strange, but professional.

Rammstein flipped to a fresh page and pressed his quill to it. "Who is this Domino you mentioned?"

"That would be me, Your Majesty," a sinister voice replied on Keith's behalf. Keith instinctively whirled around in his chair, and he breath prematurely vacated his lungs as he saw The Fang's leader towering over him and Rammstein from the doorway. He stood with a toothy, demeaning smile, leaning against the stone arch, with one arm outstretched and holding a small, spherical brass canister.

One click of the tongue later, he shut his eyes and dropped the metal ball onto the stone floor. It took one bounce off of it with a metallic  _clack_ , then ignited in a brilliant flash of white light midair. Keith's eyes felt like they were burning as his sight went completely whitewashed, his arms frantically covering his face as he tried to dull the pain...

Until a sharp blow to the back of his head fixed the pain and the whiteness for him, swallowing him into a sweet, black oblivion.

* * *

 

Chapter 27

Keith wasn't sure how long he was out for, but when he finally did wake up, it wasn't much of an improvement. He still felt cold, and tired, and he was still surrounded by a pitch black environment, even though he was certain his eyes were open.

Despite the darkness, he figured he was sitting down on something, and wanted to raise his arms to feel around the environment. They did not obey. He tried stretching his legs. They did not obey either. All four of his limbs were bound at the wrists and ankles, by what felt like very roughly textured rope by the way it dug into his fur.

The loud but distant banging of a door echoed in his ears, followed up by a louder one in much closer proximity. A few muffled footsteps followed, then the clang of the door as it shut again, and then a disheartened sigh.

"Alright, who put the sack on his head?" a gravelly voice demanded. A brief silence ensued before it spoke again. "Why would you do that? He'd suffocate in that thing! Ah! Don't argue, get that thing off of him! Manners!"

More footsteps, this time coming at Keith directly. Then the blackness immediately receded into a burning, blinding red, as his weary eyes gradually adjusted to the torches spread throughout the room. Or maybe cell was a better word, seeing as how the room was minimally furnished and Keith was indeed tied down to a chair for the moment.

An all too familiar voice in an all too cheerful tone started to talk to him as his eyesight recalibrated itself. "Hey, there he is!" Domino cheered, welcoming the Basitin like a long lost relative paying a visit. "General Keiser! It has been way, way,  _way_  too long, my friend!" he chortled, vigorously rubbing his hand into his hair.

Keith shook his head to wave off the unwelcome advances put on by the wolf. "Good to see you too," he replied, still yet to recover from his daze.

"Yeah, I know you missed me," Domino beamed, as he clapped his hands and then outstretched his arms, giving Keith the grand tour of the cell in one nice gesture. "Sorry in advance about the room here, by the way. I'd give you one of the bunks upstairs if I had my way, but then that means throwing one of my guys down here, and none of them seemed all that willing to make that sacrifice," he explained. Keith loathed the way he spoke, like he wasn't taking any of this seriously. Like he was getting far too much enjoyment out of just taking a hostage. Like he was simply playing a game.

"So yeah, we had to drop you in here in the end. But I think you can make it work. This is simply a skeleton. You're free to do with it as you will."

Keith was done listening to him ramble. "What do you need me for, Domino?" he growled.

"Oh, Keithy, don't bother yourself with things like that!" Domino laughed. "You're going to be my guest for a little while. The last thing I'm going to make you do is work." He half-ran up to the Basitin and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Just think of this as a two and a half weeks' vacation, sponsored by me, those guys behind you, and everyone else at The Fang. Sound good?"

Keith glared up at the wolf, standing over him like a mountain. "So that's what you're up to."

"I'm not going to lie, General, I really didn't want to do this. I mean, you're a busy guy, trying to save the world. I'm a busy guy, trying to make it go boom. But..." He stopped, sighed and then walked back to the center of the room. "Things don't always go to plan, do they?"

"How did you know..."

"That you were at the palace?" the mercenary cut him off. He nodded to one of his subordinates behind him, who then walked around to Domino's side. It was a short, white-furred Arctic Wolf, and Domino put an arm around his shoulder.

"This here is Alexei, General," Domino introduced. "He's my cousin, and he also happens to be the guy who was following you ever since you walked out of your friend's house this morning."

"Sorry about that," Alexei cruelly snickered.

"So, here's how the story goes," Domino started to digress, rubbing his hands and pacing about the cell. "I'm in my office, at the hideout you found out about, right? I'm trying to think of something we can do together before we become enemies."

"Too late," Keith grumbled.

"Don't be so pessimistic, General. We're not each other's throats yet," Domino chided. "Anywho, I decided to park Alexei right outside where you were staying. He catches you leaving and he ends up tailing you for..." He turned to his cousin for clarification. "Uh, what would you say, Alex? Three-quarters? Four-fifths, maybe?"

"Let's do four-fifths."

"Four-fifths of the way there," Domino accepted his input. "And then he found out something really, really strange. You didn't have your pet doggie with you. Or anybody else with you for that matter.

"So," Domino clapped his hands together again. "He sprints all the way back here, tells me everything he saw, and then it hit me," he smiled with his mouth open, like he had just achieved enlightenment.

"I saw an opportunity. An extremely profitable opportunity at that too. So I did what any businessman would: I decided to take it. I called an audible. We vacated the site, after I left a little note for Clovis telling him I cancelled my office hours, I ran back here, got myself a few goodies from the armory, shared them with the palace guards and you, and one, two, three!"

He raised his arms again dramatically, like he was performing an opera. "Here we are!" he cackled, grinning at the Basitin sitting across from him. "And you, my friend, now have a front row seat for all the action!"

Keith continued to glare at the mercenary, not able to do much else past that unfortunately. Domino's ears jumped up as he remembered something.

"Oh, crumbs, I nearly forgot!" he shouted as he slapped the side of his head. Keith, as bleak as his situation was, still had to credit his captor in avoiding any form of common swearing up to this point. "Alex, you still have that crystal I lent you?"

The Arctic Wolf extracted a glowing red mana crystal out of his pocket and flipped it over to his older cousin. "Had our mages double check the spells as well. It's ready to go whenever."

"Thank you for doing that," Domino smiled as he admired the enchantment he now held in his hand for a moment. He sighed whimsically and then eyed Keith out of his peripherals.

"Magic really is a wonderful thing, General," Domino sighed as he paced back towards him.

Keith shrugged, not allowing any fear he withheld to become noticeable to the wolf. "I personally prefer shield and sword. Never saw the use for it."

"Yeah, we both know you don't mean that," Domino snickered. "Another thing I noticed while I was on your island, incidentally. Why does everything happen at a snail's pace with you people?"

"Going slow means taking time, putting in effort, making sure there aren't any mistakes."

"Says the man I have tied down to a chair," Domino smirked. Alexei chuckled from behind his relative.

"What's the point, Domino?" Keith barked.

"Everything in life worth doing, my friend, happens in flashes. You don't know how much of it you've been missing until you find yourself right on the edge."

Domino walked right behind Keith's chair and gripped the frame delicately. "My point being, although I could just sit you here in this cell for the next seventeen days, not telling anybody where you are, starting my war, and waiting for my turkey to finish, I'm thinking I want to have a little fun while that clock is ticking. It'll also be a nice opportunity for me to..." He paused on his words once more. "...conclude some other business with your friends."

He swiftly yanked back on the chair's backing, tilting it onto its hind two legs and tilting the Basitin's cold stare right up at his toothily grinning expression.

"So how about we play a game in the meantime?"

* * *

 

"Get out of the way!" Natani angrily panted for breath as she tried to shove her way through the wall of guards now crashing onto her position. She had to be violating at least twelve different laws by this point, not counting the ones she committed back on the island, but once again, she couldn't have cared less at the moment.

The two guards out front, the same ones that had shown Keith inside to Rammstein's apartment in the keep, held their ground steadfastly as three more rushed in through the gates. "Sir, calm down right now before we have to arrest you!" the one on her left barked authoritatively. "King Rammstein is not..."

"My friend is in there!" she cried, hoping that statement was still true.

"We're doing the best we can! Now back off!"

"Keith!" she yelled again, clawing at the main hallway, trying to gain entrance into the keep. More guards continued to pour in, blocking her vision, prohibiting her entrance.

Her struggle finally ended in defeat, and she was thrown to the ground as the guards finally succeeded in their push. Again, she did not care. She didn't care that she left Zen and the rest of the group alone at the empty hideout. All she knew was that Keith was in danger, and that she was currently helpless to do much of anything about it.

No, she scolded herself, as she got back to her feet. No more thinking like that. She had been helpless far too many times on this journey. Getting caught by the night watch, being baited by Domino, trying to get revenge with a faulty weapon. She had quite enough of that.

Defiantly, she rushed at the wall of wolves once again. "Move!" she screamed, putting her head down in the hopes of breaking through.

Two guards quickly positioned themselves up front, metal shields raised high, blocking the assassin's path. Her head nailed them both resoundingly, and she fell back onto her backside, her vision horribly distorted from the near concussion she inflicted onto herself.

Another few seconds went past, but still, she shakily got back to her feet, and made another attempt at mounting the barricade. Her start was less than optimal, due to the sustained damage from her previous failures, and what should have been a third run-up instead turned into a slow, leisurely, stunned hobble instead. She wasn't even sure if she got back to the wall of guards, and instead just collapsed back to her knees, eyes tightly shut, in the hopes that nobody would notice her silently spilling tears at the loss of her best friend.

She heard the conjoined sound of the guard wall marching towards her. Her breathing was staggered. Her arms and legs all failed to move. Her eyesight was still blurred, unable to correct itself yet.

Helpless. Again.

The ground shook as the watchmen advanced closer to her. Natani's mind still wanted to fight. Her body flatly refused. Unconditionally refused. The faint jingling of chained cuffs danced into her ears.

"Gentlemen, stand down! Stand down, I say!" commanded somebody else. It sounded distant to Natani, so it wasn't likely somebody in the phalanx. She did feel the earth tremble again as the guardsmen quickly reassessed their formation, then heard the gravel grind and grumble from underneath another person's feet.

Still shaken from her failed attempts to enter the keep by force, she could only manage to lift her head up, eyes about halfway open at best. Still yet to recover, she could only make out the figure stooping down, and kindly offering a hand down to her.

"You could have just asked for entrance, Natani," Rammstein's words echoed in her head, like he was talking into a bottle. "I know why you're here."

Her eyes continued to generate unnecessary duplicates of the royal, but she did finally gather the strength to raise an arm to his. He firmly grasped the lower part of it, as one of the guards volunteered to help with the other, as they got the assassin back to her feet. She panted heavily for a while, with the two wolves still supporting her.

"Where's..." she barely spoke, as she brushed the wolves off of her arms, willing to stand by herself. "Where's Keith?"

Rammstein looked at her sadly behind his glasses, but to her he remained expressionless as the afternoon daylight reflected off of them. "If I knew where he was now, I'd tell you," he softly answered, sympathetically but sorrowfully, and partially shamefully.

Natani glared at Rammstein, clenching a fist and baring her teeth. The king didn't mind it, as he knew the younger of the two assassin brothers was more excitable than the other. "It's Domino, isn't it?" she angrily asked.

The king sighed, the sunlight still obscuring his eyes. The light dimmed for a moment as a cloud blew past the sun, but it came back to full brightness after.

Natani tilted her head down, knowing what his lack of response meant. "That bastard..." she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Natani," Rammstein replied, quietly. "I couldn't do anything to stop him. He had us stunned with a flash bomb. By the time I recovered, he was gone. My guards searched the entire keep, but we found no trace of him."

The assassin said nothing back, and the front courtyard went mournfully silent for a long while. Not a word was spoken, not a movement made between her and the king. The two just stood there, the guards surrounding them long since dispersed throughout the castle grounds. Between them, they were certain Keith was likely still alive, but, in the hands of the enemy, it may as well have been the opposite.

Rammstein moved a hand into his cloak, searching the interior compartment. "There was this, however," he added. Natani's head jumped back up out of reflex, her eyes pinned on the royal's jacket.

His search yielded a small red crystal, lying on top of a folded up piece of parchment. He held the items before the assassin, palm up, beckoning her to take them. She didn't, not both of them at once at least. First, she went for the paper, sliding it out from under the crystal. Slowly, she unfolded the note, and began to pan through it. The king simply watched over her, certain that she managed to read the entire letter without blinking:

* * *

 

_Afternoon Natani,_

_If you're reading this, then I think you know what just happened. It's alright, calm down, don't panic. Not yet anyways. I'm a nice guy when I want to be, and today is one of those days._

_But that can all change depending on how you react to what I'm about to say and what you're about to read. There should be a crystal with this note. If not, you're a smart girl, you'll probably find it without too much trouble. That is the second end of a recording link. I obviously have the first. And I'm going to open up my end at exactly five-thirty this evening, not a second earlier or later. If you want to know where your friend is and what we can do about it, you'll turn that baby on at that time. I invite you to get as many of your friends to watch this as well: your brother, his boss, that vixen from last night (yes I did hear about that, and yes I'm still a little sore over it), anybody you like._

_Again, you'll find out why later tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing you again, as I am sure you are to me._

_Love,_

_Domino_

* * *

 

She let her hands fall to her sides, taking the page out of her sight and replacing it with the ground once more. Keith was still alive and alright from the sound of the note, thank Gods. But that didn't make the tone of the letter any less taunting or mocking. Domino was toying with her. He loved his games and wagers, and that was probably the only thing he viewed Natani as right now: just another piece on his board. Another game to be played and conquered.

Natani clenched a fist again, aggressively, determinedly, crunching up the note in her hand as she did so. Rammstein looked back up at her, stoically, paying no mind to her reaction.

"What was the note about?" he asked, conciliatorily.

Natani didn't answer and instead took the transmission crystal out of the royal's hand. She then promptly about faced and began to pace back down the pathway, away from the palace. Rammstein tilted his head slightly, confused by the assassin's reactions, but for the briefest of moments, he caught sight of her eyes, flashing fervently as she turned away from him.

"I'm coming for you, Domino," she quietly snarled, making her way back home.

* * *

 

Chapter 28

The wolf, fox and dog all took their place around the galley's table. The air went tense and heavy; any more so and it would have solidified right there in front of them. All of their eyes jumped back and forth between the other two canines, waiting for one of them to take the first move. Waiting for one of them to say something.

The evening light began to dye everything inside the ship orange as it started to vanish behind the ocean. The chilled evening atmosphere began to seep in through the slightly ajar windows, rolling across all of them.

Then, entirely unexpectedly, the wolf's elbows rose from the table, and the other two Keidran glared at him as they began their response, correcting their positions at the table as well. Finally, the real action could begin...

And it started with Mike, Sythe and Evals all clapping their hands together and cheerfully shouting "Let's eat!" as they formally commenced Sythe's first meal aboard the HMS Quantum. His reservations about giving their ship that particular prefix had mostly dissolved by this point, as he was far too busy enjoying the company of the two sailors. Indeed, after everything the past few days had put him through, he needed a good way to decompress, and Keith's crew were more than proficient in the art of relieving stress.

They might still be idiots, but at least they were good idiots. And pretty decent chefs too come to think of it. Sythe had no idea exactly how fish-infested the Basitin harbor was until now, and between Mike landing them and Evals knowing what he claimed was the best sushi recipe known to Keidran-kind, Sythe was reservedly enthusiastic for what the fox and dog had planned.

Mike's ears jumped up as soon as they finished grace, and he reached across the table for a small wooden bowl. "I made something for Nibs as well if she's hungry," he offered. Mrs. Nibbly cautiously crawled down Sythe's arm off to the side of his spot at the table, and Mike placed the bowl down in front of her. It wasn't anything special, just a quick collection of what he thought the squirrel might have enjoyed for dinner. He shelled a few nuts, cut up a banana, broke up some of Sythe's crackers, then added a few more special touches before dropping everything into the receptacle and presenting it for the squirrel's approval.

Her eyes immediately lit up as she saw the banana swimming around in the mixture, and promptly rescued some of it from the sea of everything else. She happily squeaked at the fox and began to quickly gnaw away on the fruit.

Sythe set a few of the fish rolls onto his plate, curiously glancing at his companion as she enjoyed her meal. "How'd you know she likes banana?" he asked the fox, passing the main course in his direction.

"Just a guess," Mike replied as he set aside three rolls for himself. "Read somewhere that squirrels like fruit to go with the nuts and leaves they usually eat, and I just ran with it." Mrs. Nibbly downed the first slice, nodded at the veracity of Mike's statement, and then dived back into the medley for another.

"You made a good call, then," Sythe approved, picking up one of the fish rolls, ready to sample it.

Evals caught the wolf testing his work, and rushed to halt it. "Wait!" he yelled, the roll hovering just inches in front of the jowls of Sythe. He nabbed a small bowl of brown liquid and placed it front of the wolf's plate in a manner that appeared panicked but wasn't quite at that point yet.

Sythe stared at it for a moment, then turned his head back to the dog, who actually looked slightly insulted that Sythe wasn't tasting his cooking properly. "Were you really about to try my sushi without the soy sauce?" he woofed, pointing at the bowl like a mother scolding a kid for not eating his veggies.

The wolf blinked skeptically, not sure why Evals was getting on him about forgetting what seemed like a very trivial detail for his dinner. But he played along with it anyways. The food was prepared by him after all. "My mistake," he apologized, soaking the roll in the sauce for a couple seconds. "Thank you." Mike snickered with suppression as he watched the diplomat get chastised for not eating his dinner properly.

Regardless, he slipped the roll into his mouth, chewing with uncertainty at first, but it gradually picked up momentum as the full flavor of the dish started to come out. "That's actually pretty good!" he praised as he dunked another fish roll into the dark brown seasoning.

"Too bad you didn't know us earlier," Mike chuckled, as he dug into his portion. "This guy was cooking off steak a couple days ago."

"What was the cause?" the wolf inquired.

The dog seemed a little too ready to answer that one. "It was a date..." Evals explained, completely disregarding the fact that Mike preferred not to talk about Michelle.

"The date we first met each other!" Mike quickly added onto his friend's statement. "It's kind of become a tradition."

Evals looked back at the fox, completely confused. "No, we met each other in the winter..."

"Anyways!" Mike awkwardly segued, trying to silence the dog once and for all. "So, what do you know about Keith and Natani?"

Sythe swallowed his bite of the sushi before answering. "What about them?"

"Well, they kind of left us here alone with you," Evals moped. "No offense, you're a great guy."

"But they still abandoned us by definition, and we don't really know why," Mike concluded.

Sythe and Mrs. Nibbly looked at each other, both supposedly surprised by how little information Keith and Natani had shared with the crew of the Quantum. "Did they really not tell you guys anything?"

"Other way. They told us nothing," Mike corrected.

"And we hoped you could help us," Evals woofed.

Sythe was still amazed at how much the Basitin and assassin tried to keep this secret, and in a way he felt obligated to keep it like that. However, the two sailors definitely had a right to know what the holdup was, and Sythe decided to dutifully inform them. He picked up the metal cap remover off the table and dug it underneath the metal rim of the ale bottle in front of him, as he prepared to tell the story. "Well, they're actually in wolf country right now looking for someone," he started, popping off the lid and sending it clinking away in Mike's direction.

The metal cap took one bounce off the table and flew right into the fox's left hand. "Can you say who it is?"

The wolf and squirrel looked at each other again, the moral dilemma being nonverbally discussed between the two. It was settled with a know-nothing shrug from Mrs. Nibbly as she sampled one of her master's crackers.

"It's a bunch of crazies headed up by this guy calling himself Domino. He's an arms dealer with an ego the size of this ship and..."

"That's it?" Evals interjected.

Sythe glanced over at the canine, who was gleefully munching away at his own share of his dinner. "What do you mean, 'that's it?'"

"Like, that's how big his ego is? Just this ship?"

"It's a metaphor, Evals. You know, figure of speech?" Mike tried to clarify.

"I get that, but..." Evals made a shrinking gesture with his hands as he continued to munch on the fish. "It's just kind of small comparatively, don't you think?"

Mike's mouth pursed and put his hands to his head, unable to give a response more cohesive than a simple "Why?"

"I mean, why just stop at the ship?" the dog's ramble continued. "Why not go to the harbor? Or the island? Or the world for that matter? Just saying, as far as egos go, this is pretty tame by comparison."

"Is the comparison that important?" Sythe murmured, his eyes shut and his head on his hand.

Two replies came in at once, with Evals responding in the resounding affirmative and Mike the disgruntled negative. What resulted was a mismatched cacophony of an answer that was probably best summed up with the word "Yo," and whatever significance that held.

That amount, of course, was minimal, so Sythe continued with his explanation like that nonsensical interruption never happened. "Anyways, he got onto the island somehow and tried to get the Basitins on our bad side, and Keith and Natani are in my hometown right now trying to fix it."

"What's his deal?" Mike asked with a splash of water. "I mean, is he just there to mess with you or..."

"He's the head of a whole network of military contractors called The Fang. The theory is to get the Basitins sucked into a three-way fight between us and the Templars and then fund the whole thing."

Mike stirred a bit in his seat. "So that's why he was in such a hurry," he said to himself.

"And that's why you two are stuck with me," Sythe finished.

Evals' eyes narrowed and he pointed a finger accusatorily at the wolf. "So, does The Claw..."

"Fang," Mike corrected.

"Do they know we're here?" he finished his question with palpable concern.

Sythe's face immediately took on a much more worried pose. "That...is a very good question," he hesitantly commented.

"I mean, on the one hand, they know the ship is here, and it's the one Keith came in on," Mike thought out loud.

"But then again, why would they bother with us?" Evals countered.

"They wouldn't!" Mike exclaimed, trying to calm himself but not really succeeding. He moved forward in his chair, looking at Sythe for guidance. "Right?"

Sythe would have answered, but more thumping about on the deck above them cut him off, interrupting him once more. Mike sighed, as this was now a running theme for him ever since the ship docked, and excused himself from the table. Once more, he ventured over to the cleaning closet, and grabbed his trusty armament...

Mrs. Nibbly peered up at her friend and squeaked a question at him. "No, I don't know what the broom's for," Sythe told her.

"I'll be back in a few seconds," he assured the other two canines as he began to stealth his way up the stairs. Evals watched him creep up the steps, waiting for him to vanish out of sight. He observed the orange and black-tipped tail slither up behind the fox, and then reached an adventurous arm over the table, trying to requisition some of his work off of Mike's now unguarded plate. Mrs. Nibbly caught it early, and batted the hand away, causing Evals to immediately back off.

Evals yipped a bit in surprise, and Sythe gave Mrs. Nibbly a few strokes as she continued to munch away at her bowl's contents. With the galley now mostly silent, Sythe could pick out some noise from upstairs as the fox checked the disturbance. The door leading up to the main deck creaked open, meaning Mike was just now inspecting it. A pause, then it immediately creaked again, a little too soon. Distressingly too soon.

Mike quickly paced back down the stairs, holding the broom defensively in his hands as he stiffly addressed the diplomat. "Uh, Sythe? Is this a good time?"

"Is it Harbor Guard?" he asked. "Because if it is, you're not in trouble."

"I don't think so," Mike stammered. "But do you know anybody who wears green shirts on a regular basis?"

Sythe's eyes widened. Evals' ears perked.

"Why?" the wolf slowly, ominously pressed.

Mike pointed up to the galley's ceiling. "Because there's five of them, and they were talking about blowing up the ship."

* * *

 

Natani sat with her head resting on her hands, blankly staring at the red crystal before her. Her eyes slowly drifted off to the left to check the clock. Five-twenty-eight, exactly. The wait was short objectively, but to the wolf it felt like it was taking far too long, and maybe Domino was simply delaying either for extra time or just to spite her. Either way, any stress she felt concerning her friend's disappearance exponentially grew as the clock ticked closer and closer to the five-thirty mark.

She peered up across the dining area's table, just to cursorily check that everybody else was ready to watch the transmission. Domino did invite her to get everybody she could to look in on what he had to say. She would have liked to view this by herself, and she probably would have under the circumstances, but her mind still had enough clarity to know that would have been suboptimal.

Zen was seated on the long side of the table, off to her left, Clovis across from him on her right, fiddling with some mana crystals, presumably to record Domino's stream as he sent it. Against the far wall, the older of the two foxes, the ones Zen had come to be very good friends with, she had heard, stood flicking a blade back and forth over his hand. Kayle sat on the far end of the table, directly in front of Natani, smiling sweetly in her direction, even if it did feel a bit forced.

The clock's hand shifted. Five-twenty-nine. Natani sighed, the weight of time becoming a heavier and more cumbersome burden upon her with each incessant tick.

"Nat," Zen softly spoke, only receiving a passing glance as the younger sibling returned to stare at the crystal. He put a hand to her shoulder, calmly. "We're going to find him."

She didn't bother with a response. She heard her brother speaking, but for all she heard or cared he may as well have been keeping quiet. She was entranced by the glowing red crystal resting on the tabletop, knowing that in less than thirty seconds she would finally know where Domino was, and she could finally end this once and for all.

The clock continued to tick away. Fifteen seconds.

Blitz's knife clicked and clacked as the casing flailed around. Fourteen.

Clovis fidgeted with his crystals again, making sure the alignment was to his standards. Thirteen.

Blitz's knife snapped shut finally. Twelve.

Natani glanced back up at Zen. Eleven.

Zen returned a brotherly smile. Ten.

Clovis raised a hand over his mana. Nine.

Blitz walked up behind Kayle, softly patting her head. Eight.

Natani stared at Zen, but finally ceded a small smile. Seven.

Kayle looked back up at her uncle, still optimistically grinning. Six.

A pause. Five.

Clovis began drawing the power out of his crystals. Four.

Zen retracted his hand and focused on the humming red crystal. Three.

Blitz knelt down as well, as comfortably as he could manage. Two.

Natani inhaled deeply as the red crystal jumped to life. One.

And the show began. The crystal buzzed and hummed as it started to receive the broadcasted images, the crimson outlines of the people on the other end slowly being drawn into view. Zen gave a nod in Clovis' direction, and the half-fox promptly sucked his mana dry for his spell. With the word "Ausculto," he placed the power back into an already depleted vesicle, and it turned green as it began to memorize the sounds in the kitchen.

Kayle's eyes lit up in fascination for a moment, and Blitz seemed mildly impressed by it as well. Neither of the two foxes practiced or even bothered with trying to learn magic, but seeing spells as advanced as these were definitely a treat, even if this may not have been the time to be completely awestruck.

The generated image finally came to its full resolution, and Natani leaned forward expectantly. The start was a little out of place, as the projection right now was just Domino standing with his back to the focus, completely unaware of the time and what was occurring. In fact, Natani even heard him talking to himself, as he "warmed up" for the broadcast.

" _And that's how I thought I should start it. What do you think, General?_ " A pause. " _Oh come on, you've done speeches like this before, right? I mean, I know I said you weren't going to work, but a little feedback wouldn't be too much to ask for? Please?_ "

A voice chimed in off to the side, out of view. " _Domino? The crystal?_ "

The mercenary peered over his shoulder at the transmitting crystal, his ears perked almost in panic as he noticed that he was indeed speaking live. " _Whoops,_ " he stated, adjusting his shirt and waistline of his pants. " _Let me know when we're doing that next time, alright Alex?_ "

" _Is there going to be a next time?_ "

Domino raised an eyebrow contemplatively. " _Good point,_ " he replied, then turned his attention back to Natani. " _In any case, hello Natani and friends. I can't really tell how many of you are there, but I'm going to go under the assumption of 'everyone' just to be on the safe side._ "

Natani's eyes sparked. "Where's Keith, you...?"

" _And if I end up talking over you, then I'm sorry in advance. When my mages made this thing, they couldn't get the visuals to go both ways. So you can see and hear me, but I can't see or hear you. So, yeah, that's a thing. Feel free to use it or ignore it at your peril._ "

_Bastard,_  Natani mentally finished her sentence. She wouldn't be able to ask anything or demand clarification now. Right now, all she had to work with was what Domino was about to give her and her friends. Sneaky, but very effective.

" _But you're not here for me. You're here for him,_ " Domino continued as he took a step off to the side. His projection uncovered an image of Keith. His hands were pinned behind the chair he was sitting in, his head resting on his shoulder, but his eyes still flashing with intensity, beaten but unbroken. Any details about the room were outside the range of the crystal, so Natani wasn't sure exactly what had happened to him or what the extent of the damages were. Keith was a strong Basitin, though. It would take much longer before he even considered showing a crack.

" _Keithy, you wanna say anything to the people watching at home?_ " Domino asked from off screen.

Keith spat in his general direction, and Domino quickly interposed himself between the general and the crystal again.

" _He's just a little upset at the moment,_ " he whispered. " _Anywho, I wanted to call and let you know I have him set up right here in this room. So don't worry if he's not home for dinner, we're having a good time right here._ "

Natani claws dug into the wooden table, and Zen heard her softly growling at the projection.

" _But we hit a small snag. You see, the plan_ was _to just keep him here for the next few days and wait for the Basitins to come by in person, but I figured you would have guessed that he was with me by this point even if I wasn't going to tip you off like this. And if it wasn't going to be you, Nat, then I think your half-breed might have gotten there at some point._ "

"Again with the name calling," Clovis rolled his eyes. He didn't mind it so much when it was in good humor, like between him and Zen, but having his enemies address him as such, and hearing them use what he found to be one of the more insensitive options, got on his nerves a bit.

" _So, here's the new plan. It's kind of a game, but I think you'll like it anyways. You ready?_ " Domino let out a deep breath as he prepared his greatest reveal. " _I'm going to tell you where I am and where you can find Keith. Free of charge._ "

Natani's eyes widened.

" _I know, I know, I'm an amazing guy, right? Actually, I'm just trying to cut off my loose ends. You see, I love nothing more than when a plan goes off without a hitch. I love smoothness. But you, Nat, and your little band, you definitely have gone and messed them up way too many times. Between you distracting me at my hearing, ruining the General's surprise party, and rejecting my men's business at your pub, I think I've had enough of your shenanigans. So I propose we settle our differences right here, while our minds are still on it._ "

Natani wasn't sure what to think of the mercenary's proposal. He had to be bluffing, right? This was clearly a trap. He wouldn't invite her and Clovis' troupe over to the exact location where Keith was if it wasn't.

" _There won't be any nasty surprises waiting for you. I'm not that kind of guy, I like to play with my cards on the table. No ambushes, no reinforcements, just one big party with you and us._ "

Both of the Magi Brothers looked at each other. Domino didn't sound like it, but he was being very serious. He wanted to end this. That wasn't terribly out of place. What was unusual, however, was the sheer willingness of him to do so.

" _You might see this as me being obnoxiously arrogant. I see it as me being proactive in my problem solving. Pick your poison. Anyways, if you want to come find us, the General and I will be right here,_ " Domino grinned as he pulled up another chair from off screen, placed it right next to Keith and kicked back in it. " _Basement floor of our building. Seth and Krieg know what I'm talking about._ "

"Who are...?"

"Aliases Blitz and I used when we were in there," Zen explained.

" _Seriously, swing by! We'd love to have you!_ " Domino called to them happily, waving a hand at them. Then his face gradually shifted from chaotically gleeful to playfully sinister. " _And, to help you make up your mind about whether you should come or not..._ " he added as he slowly drew the pistol out from his belt and pointed the barrel at Keith's temple. Natani's emotions went into a state of turmoil, but she didn't physically react to the threat. Rather, the vixen across the table did that for her, gasping and gripping her uncle's arm. Blitz indifferently continued to watch the transmission, unfazed by the images. Off to the side, Natani could practically hear Clovis' brain mad at work, calculating a new plan of attack.

" _I love the General's company, I really do, but my crew is a little supply starved at the moment, and him being around doesn't really help out. So I'm thinking you should stop by in, let's say, the next twelve hours to come get him. If I don't hear from you by then..._ " He pressed the barrel against Keith's head, who cringed in turn as the icy steel was rubbed into one of his major vessels.

" _Then I'm going to have to show him out myself,_ " Domino qualified. " _And I really, really hate being indisposed like that. So, that's the game. Good luck, have fun..._ " And he clicked his tongue while cocking his pistol. " _We'll be waiting for you._ " The projection froze on him for a few seconds before it disappeared altogether, sucked back into the crystal like liquid through a straw.

Clovis waved a hand to finish his recording, now that the need for it had passed. His crystal gradually transitioned from red to a bright yellow, indicating the message had been successfully stored, and placed it into the inner pocket of his cloak.

Nobody in the kitchen had an immediate response to what they just saw, and instead the five canines simply sat there, trying to interpret the transmission. Either Domino was backed into a corner and was playing for an all-in, or he thought his position was so amazing that this was a gambit he simply could not refuse. Natani's head started hurting, and she rested it in both of her hands, not sure what to think for now.

One of the chairs on the far end of the room slid out. "So, when should we go?" Kayle asked enthusiastically, prompting Natani to gaze back up at the vixen. Blitz had joined her as well, and he dug out his knife once more, keeping his hands busy.

Nobody answered, so Blitz decided to chime in as well. "He's your friend, right? I think we need to go get him."

"The situation's changed," Clovis coolly replied. "This isn't about just capturing Domino anymore. This is dangerous, for us and the General."

"All the more reason for you to hang back on this one," Zen advised. "You can stay here with Kayle and let us know..."

Clovis started laughing to himself. "Have you gone daft?" he chortled. "This is one of the best plots I've witnessed in ages! My word, Domino, you are a riot!"

Blitz stared at his employer for a while as he waited for him to recover. "You're not going to leave us alone until you come with us, are you, boss?"

"That, and I've neglected to go out for my daily walk this afternoon. I insist that I join you this time."

Zen looked over at the vixen, not necessarily skeptically, but with a good dose of concern. She gave him a confident smile in return. "I can do this, Zen," she asserted. "Uncle Blitz found that folder him and Clovis were fighting over. I know everything in it."

The wolf didn't seem convinced. "I'm staying here with you," he stated.

"Zen!" Natani retaliated.

"If Domino finds out that Kayle is still here spying on his building, then he's going to do something about it. We're not leaving her here without backup."

"I can do this..." Kayle softly whispered, barely catching the attention of the older wolf. Her head hung heavy, almost as if she was wounded by that remark. "I can do this myself, Zen."

Zen knew immediately what that meant. "Kayle, I didn't mean it like..."

"I'm not afraid anymore."

Her uncle's eyebrow jumped up, and Clovis smirked from under his hood as Kayle continued to speak. "I'm not afraid of The Fang. I'm not afraid of Domino or anybody he might send after me. That night at the bar taught me that. I didn't want to kill them..."

She leered back up at Zen, her face renewed with determination. "...but now I know I can hold my own. I can do this myself!"

The kitchen went quiet again, almost in admiration, as Zen slowly walked up to the vixen. The two exchanged glances, then the lupine assassin flashed a small grin. "I'm sure that you can," he warmly added. "But I'm not asking as a bodyguard who thinks you need protection."

He affectionately, delicately placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm asking as a big brother who wants to keep you safe."

Natani was well within her rights to protest, but she elected to keep it to herself. He did have a point, much as she hated to lose him in the field. Nobody would have had this concern if Clovis just kept his trap shut, been a good fox and did what he usually does, because then nobody would have had to worry about him if things went bad. Kayle, though, apart from that unsavory experience at MacMillan's, had no such training. Even if she was a decent fighter and just hadn't shown anybody yet, Zen's concerns were well warranted.

And Kayle seemed to think likewise, raising a hand and gently brushing his off of her. "Alright," she accepted. "We'll think of something."

Zen looked over his shoulder at the other assassin. "Nat, I think that leaves you with Clovis and Blitz then."

She did feel a little distraught, however, knowing that there would only be three people on the rescue team instead of a possible four. Even more punishing, however, was the thought of the two wolves finally reuniting and then getting immediately pulled back apart. "I was looking forward to doing this with you," she sighed.

"You still are," Zen grinned, encouraging his little brother along. "Kayle and I will get a viewing orb set up here and we'll have eyes on you all the way through. We won't leave you."

Natani wasn't that sounded so reinforcing, but she liked hearing that anyways, and she finally conceded a grin for the first time in a while.

"Just do me a favor and try not to do anything stupid, alright?" Zen asked, uncertain of whether that question was supposed to be serious or not.

Natani nodded obediently. "I'll try not to," she repeated.

Blitz's knife clacked shut as he quickly looked over his team for the night. "I think we need to get to work then. Boss?"

Clovis gave another crooked grin out of the corner of his mouth as he began reciting the incantation for manifesting a viewing orb. "I think we ought to as well," he agreed. "But first, here's what I had in mind..."

* * *

 

Chapter 29

The makeshift, hastily repaired door to Natani's cabin creaked open slightly, a quivering light blue eye cautiously peering out of it. Two agents marched past it, weapons drawn as they proceeded to check the hallways. They didn't seem to pay any of the side rooms on B Deck any attention. Either they already checked them or they were assuming that the crew already left the ship and abandoned it.

Mike clicked the door shut and sat himself back against the adjoining wall. Evals and Sythe continued to hug it as closely as possible as the fox finished scouting the hallways. Already the fox was getting fidgety, his highly worrisome mentality promptly beginning to get the better of him. "Sythe, why are they trying to blow us up?" he frightfully asked, tightly gripping his tail like he was wringing it dry.

The diplomat glared at the sailors in response, then limply tilted his head backwards, banging it against the wall. Stress management, as both Mike and Evals deduced up to this point, was not one of the wolf's stronger traits. "Why the hell do these things keep happening to me?" he griped, prompting Mrs. Nibbly to scootch down on his shoulder a bit, gently patting the back of his neck as if to say "There, there."

"Hey, calm down," Evals suggested, sitting farthest from the door. "They don't know we're here yet, right? Why don't we take a breath, get a plan made, and..."

He would have continued explaining if it didn't look like Mike was about to start yelling for his mother. His hold on his tail tightened even more, like that was even possible to begin with. Meanwhile, Sythe looked like he was about to snap as soon as somebody told him the pizza guy was running a minute late. No amount of comfort or affection from the squirrel seemed like it would be enough to quell him past this stage. The conclusion was hard to ignore: calming down and thinking logically was not really an option for the trio at the moment.

"You know, I'm just going to head out and tell them where we are, alright?" Mike shouted as he finally cracked and put his hand back to the door. "For all we know, they're nice guys and they're only carrying around a bunch of explosives for someone else."

"Because people take bombs onto ships on a regular basis!" Sythe yelled back. "Face it, they're here to sink and kill us."

"But..." Mike stammered. "But what do we do then?"

Sythe looked at his squirrel for a moment and froze for a bit as he tried to think of a halfway acceptable answer. "We may as well just wait for them to plant and then sneak out while..."

He was cut off by Evals stamping his foot, and both him and Mike glanced forwards and then upwards to see the dog proudly standing in front of the other two. He held his arms folded in front of him, crossly staring down at the other two people in the cabin. "What's the problem with you two?" he barked didactically.

Apparently, their communal problem was "Sssssshhh!" because that was the joint response of both the fox and wolf as Evals boomed his question their way.

"They'll hear you, stupid mutt!" Sythe aggressively growled.

"Might want to think about keeping it down just a bit?" Mike more conservatively suggested.

"Save those zingers for the enemy, Sythe!" Evals immediately replied. "This is our ship! This is our home! What right have they to take it from us?"

"Uh, Evals, this thing is just a rental, technically," Mike felt obligated to point out. "If it gets blown up by a war-crazed band of terrorists, then I think..."

"We'll get into even more trouble!" Evals finished that statement, even if it was nowhere close to how it should have ended. "We can't just sit here and watch these..."

The dog paused, and then blushed after a second. "I ran out of insults," he admitted, like he was giving a speech and forgot where his script went.

"That's a pretty short list then," Sythe's eyes narrowed.

"Can't you just move it along? Do you really need one?" Mike ventured.

"It isn't an inspirational speech if you don't bash the enemy at least once in every paragraph!" Evals asserted.

"Then you've never written an inspirational speech."

"Shut it, you squirrel-loving hippy!"

"Ooh, that was a good one, Evals."

"Thank you!" the dog said with esteem. "I'd been saving that one."

"But now you can't use it your speech, oh heroic one," Sythe sarcastically remarked.

That needed a second to register with the dog's brain, that he'd just thrown away a critical part of his pep talk against one of the people listening to it. "Dammit!"

"But I won't say you don't have a point," Mike stated, as he stood up from against the wall. "Evals is right. This is our ship, and I think we'd be doing a disservice to her if we don't fight for her!"

"There ya go, Mikey!" Evals cheered, then peered over at the diplomat. "What do you think, Sythe?"

The wolf didn't do much more than blink and respire for a few seconds. "You guys are really about to go out there, and practically make yourselves targets, all for the sake of preserving the boat's 'honor'?" he skeptically asked, flexing his first two fingers as he said the final word.

Mike shook his head. "First, the Quantum's a ship. Not a boat. A ship."

"You don't need to be a sailor to know that one," Evals grinned. "Second, what would Keith do if he found out that we let the Quantum burn while we just ran and saved ourselves?"

"I'm sure he'd think that you have more common sense than you've been letting on," the wolf snidely replied.

"The HMS Quantum, Sythe, is the ship that carried Ambassador-General Keith Keiser across the ocean back to the Basidian Isles to break up a war that his people almost become wholly involved with," Mike slowly clarified, like he was reading out of a history textbook. "Do you hear how epic that sounds?"

"We can be heroes!" Evals woofed. "We transported the one person who could stop the fight here..."

"...and then in his absence, we valiantly fought off the people trying to sink the vessel to bring him back," Mike finished valorously.

"You two are insane, you know that?" Sythe mumbled, unmoved.

The fox and the dog looked at each other defeatedly, their best efforts not enough to swing Sythe in their position, and just shrugged at each other. "We tried," they chimed in together.

"It's all good," Evals stated as he put a hand to his chin. "We can do this just fine ourselves. Now, what can we do?"

"We know the Quantum's layout," Mike posited. "Just go where they aren't, steal supplies, maybe set a trap or two?"

"Maybe, but it's a little too obvious," Evals declined. Mrs. Nibbly made a dash towards Natani's bed, and the dog had to lift his foot out of the way to clear a path. She darted under the covers, and then a second later, she started making a sound under it, like she was clawing a large wooden box.

Sythe leaned over to take a glimpse under the sheets. "What's under the bed there?" he inquired. Mike walked over to the bed and lifted the covers for a better view. Mrs. Nibbly seemed to be scraping her paws against Natani's safeguarded trunk, the one she had been keeping all of her mage supplies locked up in.

Mike looked down at the rodent and smiled widely at her. "Nice find, Nibs!" he exclaimed as he dragged the massive trunk out from under the bed. He huffed as he sunk all of his might into forcing the storage unit out into the open, finally resting once it had been fully revealed.

"What's in there?" Evals asked.

Mike didn't give a response, because his heart sunk slightly as he noticed that Natani's lock had been reengaged, the triple layered spell defiantly prohibiting his unwanted entrance. He just stared at it for a minute, feeling semi-hopeless. The trunk had a myriad of good supplies in it, but he didn't know what to do now to access them.

Or did he? His face lit up as he recalled how to get the box open.

"Mike, really, what are we getting out of there?" the dog repeated.

"Fifteen months, seven days," Mike recited the first part of the code.

Evals blinked. "That...doesn't really answer the question," he stated with confusion. "What are you...?"

"West Street Crew."

Sythe slipped a hand onto his face. "Yep, he's lost it," he sighed, now pushing himself up to his feet. "Evals, if you really need me to, I guess I can help you while the fox has a mental breakdown."

"Long eared weirdo."

"Hey!" Sythe angrily interjected, not sure why he was getting offended by a remark that clearly wasn't aimed at him.

"Calm down, I was unlocking the trunk!" Mike dispelled the confusion and the lock. The blue seal unstuck itself from the trunk and vanished, thus permitting Mike to begin perusing its contents.

He started unloading everything he could out of the locker, picking up spellbooks, spare clothes and everything that wasn't mana related and setting them off to the side. He figured that, if he was going to break into Natani's belongings, he may as well try to keep it somewhat orderly. The digging went on for a few seconds, and Evals even came by to help accelerate the cleaning, until Mike finally found what he was searching for. He was actually still surprised slightly simply at the enormity of Natani's mana reserve and how much of it the assassin took on board, but there was still a few left, loosely spread out across the bottom of the trunk.

Quickly, he stuck both of his hands into the storage unit and began to pick up and toss the crystals into his hands, one by one. "There might be enough mana in here to do something with it," Mike observed as he collected the scattered magic.

Sythe's skepticism continued to get the better of him. "You guys know how to use that properly?"

Evals opened his mouth to answer "yes," but he then got struck by the realization that, apart from just casting some rudimentary apprentice spells and making Michelle appear again, he didn't really have much grounds to give that response. He glanced at Mike with an embarrassed grin on his face, hoping his friend could help, but both of them knew that wasn't about to happen.

Sythe gave an exhausted sigh. An incredulous, mind numbed, exhausted sigh. "Alright then," he commented as Mrs. Nibbly grabbed Sythe's pant leg and slowly worked her way back up to the diplomat's shirt. "What can you do with it?"

Mike found a small empty bag swimming around in the trunk and used that to house his mana collection. "Well, I can start the stove without a match," he started the list.

That sounded promising, and Sythe's ears perked for the first time since The Fang infiltrated the ship. "And what can you do with it?" he interestedly pressed, thinking that the fox knew a few destruction spells.

"I just told you, I can light the stove without a match," Mike repeated. "I just turn the gas on, snap my fingers and I get a little flame."

Sythe's flame of hope was reduced to cinders in turn. "That's it?" he blankly asked.

"It's something, right?"

"Poochie, what do you know?" Sythe inquired, convinced that whatever Mike knew in terms of spellcasting wasn't worth his time.

Evals wasn't quite sure what was going through his mind when he gave the instinctual response of, "Well, I turned Mike into a girl once."

Sythe's eyes widened. Mrs. Nibbly squeaked for a repeat. Mike's jaw dropped. Evals looked around the room at the three others.

"What? You asked me what I knew."

"That was supposed to be between us, nimrod!" Mike hissed.

"I'd ask, but I don't think I want to hear the answer," Sythe convinced himself, his eye suddenly contracting a very strange tic.

"No, true story. Mike and I were playing around with some spells one day, I cast something by accident and..."

Evals' voice trailed off momentarily as inspiration struck him like a wayward soccer ball to the head. He snapped his fingers and pointed at his vulpine friend and the bag of mana he was presently holding.

Mike looked around, not sure what Evals' mind could be scheming. "Evals, I don't like that look on your face," he noted, taking a half step backwards.

"I have an idea," Evals proclaimed. "You're not going to like it, but I have an idea."

* * *

 

"Gods, this thing is gigantic. How many decks have we gone through again?"

"Quit complaining, Rog. The faster we sweep this place out the better."

"Never said I was," Rog defended as he paced down the ship's corridor, sword still drawn and at the ready. "And why are you in front of me anyways?"

The second Fang agent peered over his shoulder at his tailing companion as they regressed back to the galley. "I'm helping you look?"

"You're also the guy with the bomb, Gares," Rog notified his partner, pointing at the yellow package secured to his back.

"There's nobody on this ship right now, bro," Gares rolled his eyes and continued to patrol. "We would've found them by now if there was."

Rog shook his head and forced himself past Gares in the corridor, blocking his path. "You know how stupid that assumption is, right?"

"Not really," Gares retorted, shoving his way around his obstructive partner. "Worst case scenario, we have two sailors who think brooms are effective choice of weapons, a wolf with amazing anger management issues and his pet squirrel. That's five-to-four odds in our favor, at the worst."

"Fine. I'm just saying, let's take this slow and under the assumption they're hiding and know where we are, alright?"

"And I'm saying, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast this morning, so let's just get it over with, yeah?"

The wolves' bickering got cut short as a third thumped his way up the stairs and into the hallway they were currently standing in. "Oy, this level been cleared yet?"

Rog turned back to his comrade. "Not yet. Tell Sasha we'll need a few more minutes."

"Only 'cause you're so slow," Gares murmured.

Rog finally glared at his counterpart, who had finally reached his limits. "You know something, if you're this bent on going home, then why don't you take the bomb downstairs with Locke here and just get ready for the plant? I'll finish sweeping up here."

"Rog..."

"I don't want to hear it. You're the guy who wants to get this job done. You have the bomb, now go get it done."

Gares glared at his teammate as he brushed past him towards the stairs. "Call us if anything happens, alright?" he responded as Locke ducked back down into the stairwell.

"You'll be the last to know," Rog sarcastically called after Gares as he disappeared down below C Deck. He sighed to himself, finally glad he could get some peace alone. Gares was a good guy, and one of the better agents Rog had the pleasure of doing business with, but he was also one of those people that you never wanted to catch on an empty stomach. The timing on this operation caused him to miss out on two meals back to back, and the emergency food supply in Rog's pack was quickly exhausted to assist his comrade. Even then, Gares was still irked, so maybe sticking him off on Locke was a good idea.

Rog finished strolling down the corridor and looked both ways at the walls. There were three doors in galley hallway, which he had initially assumed were just vacant sleeping quarters. That guess was easily checked with the two rooms on his right, as the doors were pushed open just wide enough to look into them. The left not so much, and even though not much noise was coming from inside, the wolf figured that it wouldn't hurt to check it. Just once.

With that mindset in play, Rog took a deep breath, gripped the hilt on his sword a bit more, and pushed the closed door open...

And took a while to simply stare at what laid behind it: a very, very beautiful vixen, fur a brilliant, almost luminescent orange, with a long, silky tail, patterned like someone had just delicately dipped the tip of it in an inkpot.

Rog was at a full loss of words, and continued to gawk at the fox as she finished stretching, like she had just been roused from a nap, and began to remove her shirt to refresh it. Rog felt like he should have said something, but base instinct got the better of him as he just continued to admire her.

Until she took a quick peek over her shoulder, not even advertently, and caught sight of the voyeuristic wolf standing in her doorway. She stared back at him for a few seconds, not quite sure what he could have been there for, then looked back down at herself, and then seemed to get a basic idea.

To which she immediately let out a scream of embarrassed fear and grabbed a water glass off of the nearby nightstand. "Get out of my room, you pervert!" she hollered, hurling the glass at Rog at an incredible speed. The wolf barely had enough time to duck below the projectile, the glass smashing into the far side of the corridor, and he immediately slammed the door and pushed himself against the wall, panting and trying to forget what just happened. Never do that again, he scolded himself. From now on that door is going to stay shut...

"Wait a minute!" he exclaimed out loud, remembering that he was supposed to be capturing and evicting any of the crew still on board the Quantum. And that included that very lovable vixen. That amazing, gorgeous, absolutely wonderful...

Rog shook his head vigorously to dislodge that mentality and immediately kicked the door back open again. He readied his sword, prepared to take the vixen by force if he had to.

What he was not prepared for, however, was for Sythe to whip around from against the other side of the wall, grab his head and slam it into the doorframe, knocking the agent out cold. Rog collapsed onto the floor, but Sythe managed to quiet any noise he made by holding him in his arms and gently easing him to the ground instead.

"Well, there's one," Sythe commented as he dragged the body over behind Natani's bed.

Evals and Mrs. Nibbly popped their heads out from underneath the bed frame and started to crawl out from under it. "Michelle, you were absolutely amazing!" he praised the enchanted fox.

"This is the last time I'm ever doing anything like this for you!" Michelle firmly stated as she readjusted her shirt. "And stop calling me that."

More thumping came from further down the hallway, and all three of the Keidran peered out the door in its direction. "Rog, everything alright up there? Heard something break!"

"Uh oh," the fox and dog chorally exclaimed as they retreated fully into the room. Sythe followed shortly after, back to the fallen agent.

"I'm coming up, alright? Sasha and everyone else is downstairs."

Michelle turned worriedly to the wolf, who had just requisitioned Rog's sword for his own. "Sythe, what do we do?"

Sythe didn't answer and instead whistled for his squirrel. In a flash, Mrs. Nibbly scampered up his leg and onto his shoulder, ready for action.

"There's going to be someone coming up the stairs, and they're going to walk past the galley," he directed. "Why don't you say hi to them when they do?"

Mrs. Nibbly crisply saluted her master and dashed down the wolf and back out the door towards the eating area. Evals shut the door behind her, quietly, and took a deep breath in and out. "So then what do we do?" he asked with anticipation.

"We are going to wait for it," Sythe instructed as he twirled the sword around in his hand, trying to get a feel for the weight distribution.

Michelle looked over her new body once again, and made a circular hand motion towards herself. "Maybe we can do something about this while we're not busy?" she requested with impatience.

Sythe looked at Evals, Evals looked at Sythe, and then both of their stares eventually converged back onto the vixen. "Do we have to?" Evals whispered.

"Yes you do!" Michelle yelled, louder than usual, but not bombastic enough to leak through the door. "This is the third time this has happened to me, and the last two were because of you! The plan's over, I want to be a guy again!"

Sythe cleared his throat, reservedly. "You sure about that?" he replied.

Michelle's gaze narrowed at what she thought would be the only objectively minded person on the Quantum. "You're falling in love with me too?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, no," Sythe scratched his chin, trying to be as soft as he could manage. "But...you look good as a girl. What can I say?"

Evals nodded and happily started wagging his tail. "There. You see that, Mike? Someone agrees with me on this."

"Change me back!"

Evals didn't bother addressing that demand, and instead just began bantering with Sythe. The most distressing part about that entire conversation was probably that the vixen had no way of telling whether the other two canines were being serious or not. "Is it just me, or do her eyes look bluer than they do when she's a guy?" the dog asked.

"Yeah, definitely," Sythe continued. "Her figure is absolutely wonderful as well. You did a good job with her."

"I aim to please."

"Alright, fine!" Michelle finally interrupted. "If it'll somehow help you, I'm okay with being a girl for a little bit longer."

"Thank you, Mike!" Evals happily woofed as he moved in to embrace his friend. He was stopped short by the vixen's palm indifferently pressing against his forehead, staunchly preventing any more forward movement.

"And you're going to stay exactly that far away from me until this is over, dog."

Evals' arms dropped as he whimpered sadly, and it almost completely overtook the muffled screams of panic coming from the ship's galley area. Sythe's ears perked as he readied himself at the door. "That's it," he noted, motioning for the two sailors to follow him closely. Michelle barely had time to interpret what Sythe was silently saying before he charged the door, nearly blasting the fox's handiwork back to the wood chippings from whence it came.

Just as he had deduced, the panicked yells were coming from the agent known as Locke. He had the extreme misfortune of trying to examine the galley cupboards a tad too closely, and came within leaping distance of a squirrel sneakily perched on top of them. Right now, he was in an absolute frenzy as Mrs. Nibbly skittered about every which way on top of, in front of and behind his head, his arms flailing without any mote of composure as he tried fruitlessly to remove the rodent before he went bald.

"Get it off, dammit!" he yelled to nobody as he kept his eyes shut tighter than he thought was even physically possible, praying that the squirrel didn't realize exactly how valuable they were to his well being. Even then, Mrs. Nibbly had him indirectly blinded as a result of her onslaught, and she continued to provide an amazing distraction as Sythe and company approached his position.

Locke finally managed to get a hold on the squirrel and yanked her off of his head, holding her by the scruff of her neck a few feet off the ground, like he was holding a handkerchief someone just sneezed into. "Give me one reason not to toss you into the harbor right now!" he growled at the rodent, like it was going to somehow understand him.

Mrs. Nibbly nodded her head, pointed a paw behind him, and teasingly squeaked as a reply. During the chaotic romp the squirrel had just put the agent through, he had turned his back completely to the room the three Keidran just walked out of. Locke would have turned around to see where the squirrel might have been going with that gesture, but he didn't have time before the hilt of Sythe's hijacked sword bopped him squarely on the forehead, allowing Mrs. Nibbly to scamper back to her friend and further evening the odds.

"You alright there, Nibs?" Sythe kindly asked as the squirrel slowly worked its way back up his shoulder. One small affirmative nod later, Sythe continued to trek forward towards the C Deck stairs, while Michelle and Evals quickly picked up the unconscious wolf and started to drag him back into Natani's room.

"You think they're on C Deck?" Michelle asked as she pushed the damaged door open with her foot.

"If they're going to sink a ship, they'll want to target the hull first," Sythe deduced. "The rest of them are probably down there getting ready to plant it. We'll go once..."

A small  _thump_  followed by the sound of the fox wincing echoed back. "Sorry, bumped his head," Evals apologized, adjusting Locke's posture to prevent any more concussive damage.

"This is good," Michelle stated as they finished dragging the wolf into the bedroom. Both of Locke's arms fell again, and Evals and Michelle politely shut the door behind them.

* * *

 

"Just finished sweeping. Nobody's down here. We're good," Shadow informed his leader. Sasha grunted in response, and leered over at Gares. The eyes said nothing and everything at the same time, and Gares needed no more encouragement to jump off of the barrel he was seated on and detach the explosive mounted on his back.

"Yo boss, lighten up, alright? This job's almost over," Gares lightheartedly observed as he moved over to the side of the cargo hold, the hull of the Quantum. "Look, I'm setting the bomb right now, see? Then we'll guard it until it's ready, zap out of here, and celebrate with a burger or something, alright? You like burgers, don't you?"

Sasha grunted again, impatiently, and Gares immediately began to regret his attempts to ease the mood. Instead he just cleared his throat, and dug into his pocket for a mana crystal. This one glowed red, an enchantment already bestowed upon it: the magical encryption that ensured that Gares' explosive wouldn't detonate prematurely. The dim yellow crystal implanted in the middle of the parcel hummed wildly as its red sister drew closer to it, and reached an apex as Gares spoke the word "Initium." The yellow crystal faded abruptly to a sinister red, slowly oscillating between a dim and vibrant brightness. It was now officially set to blow.

"There, bomb has been planted," Gares sprung up from his crouching position, watching the timer gem fluctuate, admiring his own work. He peered over at Shadow with satisfaction. "Hey, Shade, we have a couple minutes to burn. You want to take a look around, see if there's anything good to sell?"

Shadow glanced over at the head of the operation for approval. "Sasha, you'll be alright here for a few? There's nobody here." An audible exhale was the response, to which Shadow replied with a shrug, interpreting that as a yes. "Alright, Gares, let's get you some food, alright?"

"Awesome!" the younger wolf cheered as he waited for his superior to begin marching up the stairs. Sasha continued to glare at the two wolves until the vanished into the ceiling, then turned it back to the bomb, the crystal's luminosity now bouncing back and forth at a slightly faster rate, monotonously humming at each peak.

He considered shutting his eyes for a moment, just letting the melody of the bomb caress him for a few seconds, but that would have been an astronomically huge breach of code. And for somebody who had been denied promotion time and again in The Fang's ranks, that was one of the last things he needed to do. He wasn't sure why he kept getting pushed aside. It could have been his conduct, the way he never spoke and pretty much communicated without opening his mouth at all. It might have been the fact that he fixated on his work like a bird fixates on a nest, constantly cranking it out by himself without much care for those he was working with. It may as well have just been the fact that he was named "Sasha," even though that name had been in his bloodline for an uncountable number of generations. He'd become quite bitter towards a lot of things, needless to say. And this job probably wasn't helping things along. Gares hit the point right on the nose. Just plant the bomb and go.

And maybe pick up a sandwich on the way out.

Two heavy weights suddenly began to tumble down the stairs, and Sasha unexpectedly flinched and whirled around. First came Gares, who bounced down the stairs like a rubber ball and then slammed his back against the bottom part of the stairwell, then Shadow came rolling along and literally got into a head-on collision with his coworker. Sasha growled in annoyance and yanked the sword out from its sheath, angrily stomping towards the stairwell.

He was about to peer up to see what had happened, until two rambunctious Keidran, a male dog and a female fox loudly clomping down the steps, answered the question for him. Michelle and Evals swashbuckled their way down the stairs, their confidence approaching amazingly cocky levels. Their pounding footsteps unwittingly and perfectly telegraphed their position, and Sasha lifted his sword over his head, ready to intercept the bumbling sailors.

"One more!" Evals yelled as he skidded to a halt just in front of the two recently fallen agents. Michelle give a small cheer as well as she finished her descent as well.

Sasha would have taken the first slash at Evals, but he intentionally held it in hopes of solving two problems at once. Evals froze as he saw the raised sword, and Michelle immediately regretted stopping where she was.

"Oh, crap," they said simultaneously as Sasha hollered and sent the blow on its way. The dog dodged right, the fox rolled left, and the blow stuck itself right between the two of them. Evals continued to run towards the bomb, but that unfortunately left Michelle in the corner, rammed up against the stairs with nowhere to really run. She crawled on her back, trying to distance herself from the enraged wolf. Sasha picked the sword back up and marched towards her, darkly looming over her.

"Mike!" Sythe barked down the stairs. The two sailors broke formation, the confidence burst seemingly getting the better of them after disposing of Gares and Shadow. Sythe quickly bolted down the stairs, but Sasha was already poised for the attack.

Michelle cringed and rolled onto her side, hoping that this wouldn't hurt much. Sasha raised the sword again...

"Hey!" a tiny voice chimed in from behind the wolf. Sasha wasn't quite sure why his curiosity got the better of him, but he did feel a compulsion to peer over his shoulder and see what exactly all this was about.

A small, young Basitin, a good two feet below Sasha's gargantuan stature, stood behind him, her sword raised defensively. It should have easily been a one-handed weapon for most people, but this one had to use both to keep it steady.

"You leave Mr. Orangetail alone!" Madelyn Adelaide shouted as she swung her sword at the bomber. The way Sasha was holding his weapon, he was in no position to parry it away, and Madelyn connected her blow right onto the wolf's nose with a loud, resounding, impactful...

"Clunk?" Evals confusedly asked aloud, not quite sure if he heard that sound effect properly.

Madelyn more closely inspected her weapon as Sasha rubbed his muzzle, trying to soothe the pain. "Oh, yeah, this is my training sword, isn't it?"

Sasha let out a furious roar as the pain subsided, and took a swing at Madelyn with his free hand. The young Basitin ducked under the blade as it passed, though considering how high it was comparatively, it probably wasn't quite as necessary as she thought.

The agent prepared another swing, but not before Sythe finally finished descending the staircase, and pounced over Michelle and onto Sasha's back, mounting him like an enthused kid getting carried by his parents. Only this one was much less good-natured and more of Sythe wrapping a lower arm around Sasha's neck and pulling back on it as hard as possible. Sasha growled and danced around the cargo hold with Sythe on his back, slamming him against the interior wall a few times. Sythe did not flinch, despite the mass of his opponent, and continued to hold fast.

Michelle couldn't do much more than just watch Sythe struggle with the agent from the stairwell with Evals trying to inspect the bomb and figure out how to get it disengaged, the central crystal now pulsing at a moderately fast rate.

Madelyn peered over at the fox to see if she was alright, curiously at first, but then horribly confused by the end. "Mr. Orangetail is a girl?"

Michelle was befuddled by that question for a moment, then looked back down at herself and quickly remembered why that was relevant. One "Yipe!" later she was tightly hugging herself and blushing redder than ever. "You weren't supposed to see that!" she interjected. She wasn't sure why she considered her image to be of more importance than how exactly Madelyn got this far into the Quantum without anybody noticing, but instinct got the better of her.

No response came, as the narrowed, shocked eyes of Madelyn conveyed every single one of her thoughts at the time: that her world, and everything she knew about her beloved Mr. Orangetail, had been completely demolished and obliterated. "I...I..." was as close as she came to speaking.

"Look, Maddie..." the vixen tried to relate to the shattered youngster. "Why don't you just take a deep breath and..."

"Just fall down already!" Sythe yelled, frustrated that his particular course of attack was taking so long to execute. Sasha was still very lively, bucking and thrashing like a bull at a rodeo, refusing to succumb to his lack of oxygen intake.

Evals peered up at the two wolves and then back down at the explosive, unsure of which one to tend to first. Then back up to Sythe, then back to the bomb. Sythe. The bomb.

He dug a coin out of his pocket.

"Evals, do you mind?" Sythe exclaimed, starting to lose his grip on The Fang's member.

Evals peered up at the two wolves and then back down at the coin, unsure of whose advice to go by. Then back up to Sythe, then back to the coin. Sythe. The coin.

He went for another one.

"Evals!" Sythe screamed.

That seemed to have made up the dog's mind, as he sprinted towards Sasha at full speed. As the larger wolf's hands were fully engaged with the diplomat, Evals had a clean, free shot at him. He pulled a fist back, and using the momentum from his run up, jammed it into the agent's lungs.

Sasha prematurely exhaled and stuttered, just long enough for Sythe to reset his grip on the other wolf's neck. Sasha felt it tighten, and he finally began to struggle for breath...

One last grunt was all he could manage before going to his knees, and finally his face. Sythe sighed with relief as he finally relinquished the unconscious agent, and glared at Evals as he stood himself up. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Don't look at me like that! I seriously had to make a decision there! It was either you or..."

"Uh, the bomb?!" Michelle called attention to the obvious problem in a panic, sprinting over to the parcel with Madelyn following shortly behind. Evals dashed over to it as well, picking it up in his hands. The crystal pulsated at an alarmingly, dangerously fast frequency.

"Alright, Mikey," Evals woofed, handing the explosive to the vixen. "Go ahead and do it."

"Do what?" Michelle barked, pushing it back to the dog. "You're the one with the mana. You dispel it!"

"I gave it to you, remember?" Evals replied, forcing it back.

"I gave it to  _you_  so you could do  _this_  to me!" Michelle exclaimed.

Evals looked back up at her with realization. "Oh yeah, and that was the whole bank, wasn't it?"

"You moron!"

"Give me that thing!" Sythe snatched the parcel out of the bickering canine's hands as he opened up one of the portholes.

"What's Mr. Woofypants doing?" Madelyn innocently asked.

"If you can't disarm it, just do this!" he shouted in frustration as he hurled the package out of the porthole, sending it spinning into the air like a frisbee. He glared at the two incompetent sailors, his only movement being his left ear perking as the bomb landed into the ocean with a small  _splash_ noise.

"Problem!  _Solved!_ " he boomed, pointing at the submerged bomb as it finally detonated. The cargo hold shook violently for a moment as a gigantic waterspout shot out of the harbor and at least twenty meters into the sky. A small tidal wave crashed onto the docks, drenching a small patrol of nearby guards as it passed. Apart from that, however, and likely the inevitable flood of questions that would probably be coming their way as a direct consequence, the damage seemed to be minimal.

Sythe huffed as the explosion subsided, still trying to vent out any excess anger and stress from this little panic. The other three passengers were either sighing with relief, as Michelle was doing, panting for air, like Evals, or just looking between the two parties still unsure of what entirely was going on, much like Madelyn.

"You two...are freaking idiots," Sythe seethed, still puffing in decompression. A few more seconds passed until the wolf finally dropped his arm back to his side and finally regained the composure he needed to relax himself.

His visage did the same, and Evals could have sworn he saw Sythe actually smiling slightly as he finished his thought. "But you're my idiots."

* * *

 

Chapter 30

" _Head left here. The Fang's building should be straight ahead._ "

Natani's eyes jumped to the other side of the street, to the other set of rooftops. There was only a relatively narrow alley to cross, and she managed just fine with one well-timed bound off the edge of the building she was currently on, landing onto the soft wooden surface with little to no noise.

Her partner, however, wasn't quite as graceful, and Clovis crashed onto the roof, balled up like he had just been ejected from a window. Natani slid to a halt as she heard the half-fox drop, and ran back over to get him up again.

"You don't do a lot of running, do you?" she teased, grabbing his arm and yanking on it.

"Oh, shut up. Everyone has their faults," Clovis spat as he scrambled to his feet, then inspected his cloak in a fluster, checking for damages. "Nah, it's fine."

"You have, like, ten of those things at home, foxboy. I think you can manage with just nine," Natani blankly replied, motioning for Clovis to keep moving. The wolf ran in front of him, and the duo got back to their initial pace across the capital's rooftops.

The nighttime lights blurred and rushed past the hybrid's eyes, streaks of yellow and red tearing through the blue night air. It felt chilled slightly, but not cold enough to warrant anything heavier than what he was wearing. Clovis sighed to himself. If he wasn't on the brink of catching Domino, this would have been extraordinary walking weather, and he was remiss to pass this opportunity up. Priorities came first, however. There would be more nights like this one in all likelihood. But this was the only chance he had at pulling the rug out from under The Fang, and he was not about to lose it.

"Let me ask you a question, Clovis," Natani called back to him as they sprinted across the line of rooftops, towards The Fang's headquarters. "Why do you care about this?"

Clovis glanced over at the wolf off to his left side. "How do you mean?" he responded, though he was fairly certain he knew what she meant.

"The Fang's off your back, really. Your spies are safe. So why are you still helping us?" Natani clarified.

Clovis returned his stare forward. "I made a deal with your brother. If he found and eliminated the threat to my values, I'd find and eliminate the threat to his. We both found it, now we just happen to be working on the second part together."

Natani made sure she wouldn't slip on or trip over anything ahead before she looked back over at Clovis. "Since when do you start returning favors?"

"I never said that I was," the half-fox corrected. "This is just me fulfilling my half of the contract. You can say what you will about me personally, Natani." He peered back up at the assassin, grinning that toothy, crooked grin he loved sporting so much.

"But even for someone who hates me as much as you do, you have to realize, I've always been a man of my word."

Natani saw where Clovis was going with his speech, and he did get the point across, but since he practically opened the door for criticism...

"I still think you're a prick," she pointed out.

"And at times, I can be."

"You're a cheat who loves taking the easy roles on jobs."

"Save for this one, I'll take that on the chin."

"You like to think you're a purebred wolf, even though we both know you aren't."

"That was a tad harsh, but true."

"And above everything else, you're a greedy, cocky, snobby jerk who I can't possibly stand and I'm only working with because everyone else is busy."

"I most certainly am," Clovis cackled, reveling in every ounce of mud the wolf slung his way. "But you know what you didn't say anything about?"

Natani continued to glare at the smirking spymaster, but not disdainfully. That little rant against him actually felt quite satisfying. "What did I miss, foxboy?" she shouted over the rushing wind of her sprint.

Clovis chuckled a bit as he replied. "You didn't say anything about not trusting me."

* * *

 

"Zen, how does this thing work again?" Kayle inquired, swiping her fingers across the viewing orb every way she could think of. She was receiving plenty of blurred shots of Natani and Clovis dashing past the orb's range, but really needed to fix its view on top of them, or at the very least fix it somewhere that wouldn't give her motion sickness.

The wolf brought over two cups of coffee, hoping that it would prepare both him and Kayle for a long night, and took a seat next to her at his kitchen table. He watched Kayle play with the medium-sized magical ball for a few more moments, seeing if she couldn't solve her problem by experimentation, but finally set the mugs down and reached over to it.

"So if I want to watch one particular person," Zen explained as he enlarged the picture slightly. "Let's say I want to check on Natani. I just pan over to him, tap him twice..." he instructed, performing each of the directions as he narrated them. The orb finally stopped zipping around and came to a stable bird's eye view above the younger assassin as she ran towards The Fang's building.

"And there you go," he proudly displayed his results, like a professor demonstrating an intricate mathematics proof.

Kayle smiled, grateful that the issue was finally resolved. "Sorry if I'm new to this."

"No need to be. We were all new at one point," Zen said through a sip of coffee, pointing at the vixen's mug. "You might want to put some of that down as well. This probably won't end until late."

Kayle laughed. "Zen, I work at a tavern. I'm used to staying up this late."

The wolf shrugged. "Well, it doesn't hurt to be careful."

"Should we really be drinking while this is going on?" Kayle asked.

Zen smirked. "If Clovis can get away with sitting in his mansion sipping wine while your uncle and I are out doing all the dirty work, then he shouldn't have any problems with us having coffee here while we're watching his back."

He raised his mug towards the vixen. "So on that note, if you'd join me..."

Kayle wasn't sure what Zen was doing, and felt slightly stupid once she picked up on the fact that he was performing the universal sign for a toast. She gently picked up her mug by the handle and raised it in front of her as well. "To messing with Clovis, then?"

Zen almost lost it, and had to bury his muzzle into his arm to prevent any of his coffee from sloshing out during his laugh. He did manage to irk out a cheer though his laughter. "To messing with Clovis. Sing it," he ebulliently nodded as he tapped the rim of his mug with Kayle's.

The vixen happily took a small sip out of her mug, sampling the brew Zen had prepared. Zen actually had to think about when was the last time he saw Kayle not smiling, and he didn't like to count that incident at the bar. There was something...seamless about her, the way she was always on the bright side of problems. It was that incessant optimism that she always brought; it counterbalanced her uncle and, as reluctant as Zen was to admit it, Natani's grounded realism. Zen liked that. It was one of those traits he kind of wished Natani would show every once in a while, just some sort of genuine, constant happiness that Kayle seemed to find everywhere she went.

He avoided getting too hung up about the vixen at the moment, since although they were the farthest from the fight, their role at the house was still critical to the operation. He set the mug down and made himself as comfortable as he could manage, staring at the viewing orb, with his brother and the spymaster continuing to dash across the rooftops.

Kayle peered over at him, and lowered her mug. "Are you worried about him?" she warmly asked, almost perfectly piercing the calm, collected facade Zen had put up.

The wolf sighed, continuing to stare at the orb. "He knows what he's doing, and he can definitely hold his own in a fight," he replied, then glanced up at the vixen. "I don't know, Kayle. It's our first time back together in a while and already it feels like he's back out the door again. Can't really say I'm not worried about him."

She giggled sweetly and took another sip of her coffee. "That sounds a lot like Uncle Blitz. Did he ever tell you how he lost his eye?"

Zen rubbed the side of his head, near the socket, cringing. "It was a crossbow, right? Punctured the optic nerve?"

She hummed affirmatively. "And for the next few weeks after that, I couldn't trust him going out anywhere else. I honestly thought something else was going to happen to him for some reason. Did some really weird things too."

"Try me."

"Like, for the first couple of days after he recovered, whenever he got a job from Clovis and ran out to do it, I seriously would drop everything I was doing, and just sit on one of the barstools and stare at the door. Nothing else, just sitting on that stool waiting for him to come back into the pub."

The wolf tilted his head slightly. " _Did_  anything else happen to him?"

"He got into a few fights and would get banged up every once in a while, but otherwise he was fine all the time," Kayle smiled. "So it's alright you're worried about your brother, Zen. It just means you care about him, and you want him to do well. And I'm sure that he will, if he's anything like you!"

The room went silent again, apart from Zen slurping the still hot coffee. Count on Kayle to always find some way to get you to relax. He raised an eyebrow in agreement, as Natani and Clovis slowed their paces down, presumably arriving at the location. Zen sighed and pounded the mug back onto the table. He was still slightly irked by the fact that he was too far out of the way to assist physically with the job. He would have much rather liked to be by his brother's side, sneaking, fighting, succeeding. But no, Clovis and his overly bloated ego had to go with Natani instead. Which meant that, instead of Zen fighting to the death and running to exhaustion at a time that had to be close to midnight if not past it already, he was instead relegated to his warm, comfortable, familiar home, watching the action unfold firsthand with a good drink and an even better companion...

Zen slowly realized that he was complaining about nothing and immediately ceased to think any more on the subject.

Kayle's tail suddenly bushed up as an unusual vibrating feeling bit her on the right leg. She immediately dug the magenta communication crystal out of her side pocket, firmly holding it to stifle any more errant movements from it. "I think I'm supposed to tap it to turn it on?" she recited Clovis' instructions from earlier.

"That's how it works," Zen affirmed, and Kayle acted accordingly, flicking the crystal two or three times and then setting it gently down on the table, in front of the viewing orb. The crystal hummed loudly for a moment as its brightness reached the apex of its crescendo, and then the noise died down to something more intelligible.

" _Zen, do you have that crystal up and running yet?_ " Natani asked him through the mental link, even though her voice could be heard perfectly clear through the newly activated channel.

"I don't know, Blitz, can you hear us?" Zen asked back.

" _How's she doing so far?_ " the Polar Fox chimed in.

"She's doing marvelously," Zen assured him, motioning at the crystal, coaxing Kayle to give it a shot.

The vixen leaned forward slightly, giving her inaugural statement across the link a little more clarity. "The viewing orb looks good, Uncle. I think everything's ready."

" _Most excellent,_ " came the half-fox's voice, followed by a strangely timed moment of silence, as everybody else waited for him to keep talking.

He finally did, but not before it attained an awkwardly long duration. " _Oh, does anybody else want a drink?_ "

Both the wolf and the vixen's ears drooped, not sure if Clovis was trying to be funny or if he actually had a wine glass to be within arm's reach where he was currently seated. Surprisingly, judging from the way the moonlight was reflecting off of his hand...

" _Why would you ever need a spell to teleport in a bottle of wine?_ " Natani demanded, while covering her face, judging by how muffled the question came out.

" _Well I'm sorry for getting thirsty after sprinting halfway across town on unstable ground, Natani!_ " Clovis defensively and sarcastically snapped back, going for another swig of his favorite drink.

Zen heard his younger sibling sigh as she let Clovis finish his drink, as inopportune as it was. " _Blitz, you're in position, right?_ "

" _I'm coming out of the alley, second one from your left. I just need you and Clovis to watch me as I get the door open._ "

" _Provided of course he could be bothered to watch,_ " Natani grumbled. Clovis finished depleting the glass, and then tossed it over his shoulder. Zen wasn't sure why he would do that, until he saw the glass dissolve into a shower of blue sparks, indicating that it had left the vicinity and would likely be tended to with a dustpan back at the half-fox's manor.

" _Very well then, Blitz,_ " Clovis replied. Zen couldn't tell what he was doing from behind the hood, but if he had to guess...

" _Let's begin our game._ "

* * *

 

Blitz waited for a few minutes at the mouth of the alley, checking both directions of the street before slipping the black facemask over his mouth and stepping out nonchalantly towards the Dead Man's Tavern. Whatever traffic may have been coming through the city at this hour, none of it was passing by here. Blitz hypothetically could have outright sprinted towards the front door and been just as stealthy as he was currently. Regardless, he took his time crossing to the mercenary barracks. Even if he didn't necessarily have to blend in, it still helped.

Blitz walked down the narrow paved pathway to the front door, the sign squealing on rusted hinges as it swayed in the light breeze. He gave the knob a quick, authoritative tug, and noticed to his slight but expected disappointment that it was locked. Once more, the Polar Fox peered over his shoulders, and then after confirming nobody was behind him, he reached into the small pouch attached to his belt and tossed a lockpick up into the air, catching it between his first two fingers. He slipped the pick into the upper half of the keyhole, wedging it just so that he could leave it in the lock without it falling out. He then gently pulled out his beloved knife, flicking it open and spinning it around in and over his hand for a few playful moments before finally securing it in its open position. He examined it reverently for another second, like an art critic inspecting a portrait, before begrudgingly sighing at what he was about to put it through.

"I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't have to, beautiful," he apologized as he knelt down to the lock and slipped the blade into the lower part of the lock. Still holding the blade in his right hand, he gripped the pick with his left and jiggled it a little, trying to locate the tumbler. He didn't expect it to be simple, and if the lock was making any noise as he probed around its interior, it was far from audible. Blitz planted an ear against the wood of the door, next to the lock, seeing if that would help out at all.

The next noise he heard wasn't the sound of the pick scraping against the tumbler, but instead the distinct, crisp  _click_  of a firearm being engaged off to his left side. Smart of the assailant, to approach from the only spot he had difficulty seeing.

"I can't let you do that, fox," Alexei sneered with superiority. "Up you go," he directed, flicking the barrel upwards emphatically.

* * *

 

"When did he get there?" Natani barked, her longbow drawn from her perch on the rooftops.

"Must have slipped in from the side. If he teleported in, we'd have known it," Clovis observed from behind her.

Natani huffed and reached behind her for an arrow. "I'm getting rid of him," she informed Clovis as she nocked it and drew it back. She rotated the bow perpendicularly as well, finding that it helped her accuracy for jobs where she was supposed to keep quiet.

Clovis gently pressed down on the bow in protest, as Natani let her arms lower it to the shingled roof. "Hold it for now," the half-fox instructed. "Let's just see what Blitz does."

The wolf reluctantly obeyed, and disengaged the arrow, letting the drawstring slide back to its rest position, and watched the scene unfold with semi-boredom.

* * *

 

Blitz raised his hands slowly and extended his legs, raising himself to a full foot if not more over the wolf. That single blue eye glistened under the bright moonlight, like it threatened to bisect Alexei if he focused hard enough.

"And I'm shooting the moment you move for that eye patch, so don't try to put anything over me," Alexei crooned, the gun still trained on the fox's head with impunity even as his target towered over him in a similar manner. "We all know you're a one-trick horse with that thing."

"So what do you think I am without it?" Blitz coolly replied.

"Someone who I'm about to kill. Someone who's won't stop me and Dom from making a ton of gold. I have a list, if we need it."

"You really think I'm that powerless without my eye, huh mate?"

"Well, you can't reach it without me shooting you, and that knife of yours is stuck in our door. This probably doesn't end well for you."

Blitz glanced up and to his right, at the nearby building, at two silhouettes that Alexei was yet to notice.

"Probably," he repeated back.

* * *

 

" _What is that fox up to?_ " Zen asked, like it needed to be stated.

Natani didn't have a definitive answer either, but at least she could speculate. "Stalling for time, if I had to guess," she responded, slipping the arrow back onto the string. "Clovis, I have a shot. Just let me take it."

"Please, Natani," the half-fox insisted. "I understand that the General means a lot to you and you want to get to him as quickly as possible, but let's leave Blitz to his own devices."

Natani motioned down at Clovis' hire, who had just been commanded to get to his knees. "He's going to get himself shot, you know."

"I assure you, he's not," Clovis replied with a faint smile. "That fox is a lot smarter than you think he is."

The wolf let out a disbelieving puff of air. "I'd love to see how he plans to..."

"That wolf is also making a gigantic mistake," Clovis continued. That was the sentence that grabbed Natani's attention again.

"What is he doing wrong?"

Now Clovis' expression expanded into the famed crooked grin territory. "You'll see in a second."

* * *

 

"You are damn pathetic," Alexei spat as Blitz locked his hands behind his head and knelt down. "You got me good that day, with that sneaky little arms dealer trick, but I'm the one in control now."

He took one small step forward to Blitz, the gun barrel oppressively held directly in front of the fox's forehead. "And now you're going to die because of it."

Blitz calmly looked back up at the monologue-spewing wolf, almost pitifully in a way. "Then why haven't you killed me yet?"

Alexei scoffed. "You're helpless, Blitz. You can't do a single thing right now. I have all the time in the world, and I intend to enjoy every moment of it."

"I strongly disagree with that middle part, mate."

"You're not in a position to disagree."

"I'm not helpless. You haven't bound me, you haven't incapacitated me at all, the only reason I'm playing along is because you're pointing a gun two inches from my head. I'm still free to do what I want, I just..."

"Skip to the point!" Alexei shouted, tempted to just shoot Blitz right here and now.

Blitz sighed, frustrated at how short sighted this wolf was. "The point is, you're a freaking idiot," he sharply retorted. Alexei didn't have much time to let that verbal attack sink in, because Blitz wasted no time in beginning his physical one, by disobediently removing his hands from his head, grabbing the wolf's wrist and turning it away from him, then ramming an elbow into his jaw. He then dropped it onto Alexei's shooting arm, causing it to bend completely perpendicular to way an arm generally bends. The wolf yelped as the pistol clattered out of his hand, allowing Blitz to kick it back into the street, well out of his adversary's reach.

The fox rammed a fist into Alexei's stomach, then grabbed his foe's shirt and slammed him against the tavern's front wall, just next to the door. Blitz eyed his knife, still sticking out of the lock, almost beckoning him to use it here. He pinned Alexei against the wall, pressing his left arm against his rib cage, as he swiftly sidestepped to yank his trusty blade out from the keyhole. He thought best to end this fight quickly, and made a sharp, quick slash at the wolf's throat.

The acute  _ting_  of colliding steel was his meager reward, as he noticed Alexei had just pulled out his own short blade, a very small, curved dagger of sorts, and had blocked the incoming flick. He held it strong against the fox's knife, and raised an cocky eyebrow as the two agents struggled.

"You take me for granted, then," the wolf smirked.

* * *

 

"Never mind, then," Natani sighed, preparing to replace the arrow in the quiver.

Clovis noticed the arrow come loose, and raised a hand. "Don't get complacent yet. He's yet to win this fight."

" _Hey, Nat, if you're waiting for this to end, I made you a present._ "

Natani's ears perked. "When did that happen?"

" _I slipped it into your bag right before you and Clovis left. I think you'll like it._ "

She flipped the bag off of her shoulders and around to her front, loosening the rope knot at the mouth. She stuck an arm in and rummaged around, then stopped as soon as she felt the coldness of a hollow, metal, cylindrical shell, something that she was certain she didn't put in herself.

Uncertain of what this could possibly be, Natani grabbed it lengthwise and yanked the object out of the bag...

She was hit by both confusion and sentiment simultaneously, the resulting feeling becoming an uneasy amalgamation that made her stomach churn. "It's your blade," Natani softly observed, the bracer resting in both of her hands.

The link went silent, not for long, but long enough for the assassin to know her brother didn't have an immediate response. " _Thought it might be helpful,_ " he confessed. " _I mean, it won't do anything for me right now. I'm here. You're there. Thought it'd be good luck for you to use it for me._ "

Natani hesitantly slid the plate piece over her right hand, tugging at the two leather strips to secure it to her well-muscled lower arm, the velvet interior gently hugging its new master.

" _The trigger near the thumb..._ "

"I know how it works," Natani interrupted her brother, popping the blade out from under the wrist with ease. "I'm the one that got it for you to begin with."

" _Well I'm not regifting it to you, if that's the concern. Just think of it as on loan, alright? Once you find Domino, I'll be right there with you._ "

"Thank you, Zen," she softly called back, before giving the blade an affectionate lick and retracting it. She admired her brother's choice of weapon for a few more moments, holding it at different angles in the moonlight, seeing what kinds of patterns she could make with the various scratches and engravings it had contracted over its use.

At least, until Clovis abruptly inserted himself in the wolf's nostalgia trip. "Um, Natani, I'm sure that's very touching, but shouldn't you be watching Blitz right now?"

Natani sighed reminiscently, as she picked her bow back up, set her sack off to the side, and retrained her aim at the brawl down below. Meanwhile, Kayle's voice drifted over the channel, a nice, calming tone that Natani could easily focus through. " _Then what were we doing upstairs? You know, with the herbs and whatnot?_ "

"Aw, Zen. You made me some poisons too, didn't you?" Natani smiled, peering at the bag off to the side. Clovis moved towards it instead, pointing a finger back at the fight.

" _I got a little bored while you were away on the island, so I thought I'd have a little fun and reload our potion supply,_ " Zen explained before Kayle audibly cleared her throat. " _And Kayle helped me with a few of them too,_ " he quickly appended.

Clovis sunk an arm into the bag, rifling about in it until he encountered what seemed to be a smaller one, nested in off to the side. This one felt like silk, an easily verified observation once he actually got it out of the main part of the backpack. Inside, the muffled sound of clinking glass indicated that Zen had indeed been hard at work at his alchemy table again.

But probably the most stunning thing about the smaller bag itself was its mass. Despite its meager dimensions, Zen must have filled it as high as possible with vials of every sort of concoction he could think up. Clovis had to hold the bag with two hands, as there was not enough material at the mouth to grip it with just one. "You think we'll have enough?" he pondered.

" _I'm just covering all of our bases, foxboy. There's something in there for everything._ "

Clovis found that statement of quality amusing. "Perhaps we could sample some of your work?"

" _There should be a deep blue vial in there somewhere._ " Clovis unstrung the bag, not looking forward to searching the swamp of glass lurking inside, but was pleasantly surprised to notice that exact potion lying on the top.

"What do you have there?" Natani asked over her shoulder, still watching the fox and wolf battle.

"Zen wants us to do a little experiment," Clovis grinned, tossing the vial to her. Natani tracked it out of the corner of her eye, and reached a hand out to catch it. "Shall we begin?"

"Love to," Natani agreed, placing the tip of her arrow into the vial and upturning both of them.

* * *

 

Alexei cackled again, parrying away each one of the fox's strikes with expertise and precision. Blitz had made the fatal error of encountering Alexei before, even if it was under pretense, and that meant he knew exactly what Blitz liked to do. He was sneaky, clever, would try the unexpected. And right now the wolf had it to a science. He knew where Blitz liked to strike, what his fighting style was, where the weaknesses were.

Though there was one thing that bothered him. "What's wrong with your eye, Blitz?" Alexei taunted, scraping away another strike. "Don't feel up to using it?"

"I don't like to control people who don't deserve it," the fox growled, taking a stab towards Alexei's ribs. Once more it was knocked away.

"I see," Alexei smirked, giving his dagger a quick spin in his left hand before making his reply to Blitz's attack. "So I must have become a more formidable opponent, then?"

"Don't get your hopes up," Blitz grumbled, dodging a blow for his right shoulder. "I got the drop on you last time. Doing the eye trick right now, it wouldn't be fair."

Alexei sliced at Blitz's right arm, succeeding in cutting only a few white and black hairs off of it as Blitz dodged again. "Always the sportsman, aren't you?"

"And why are you talking during a fight anyways?" Blitz interjected as he started to counterattack. "I thought that was your cousin's thing."

"Well, now it's mine!" Alexei exclaimed, parrying away each successive strike from the fox. "And if you're playing fairly, I should as well."

Blitz actually paused when Alexei said that, and he wasn't sure if that was out of shock that he was trying to be honorable in something as dirty as a knife fight, or if he just would have felt bad striking an opponent who was trying to even the playing field. He permitted the wolf a step backward, but nothing more. "What does that mean, 'play fairly'?" he demanded, holding his knife out to his side.

"Well, I shouldn't be handicapping myself if we want a good fight," Alexei shrugged, as he threw his dagger into the air, over to his other side. "For starters, I'm not left  _aaargh!_ "

Blitz's shoulders relaxed, and for a moment he had no clue what in the world just happened. But then he saw Alexei's left hand spring to his right arm, near the elbow, then his dagger clang onto the floor, and he had a pretty good idea of what the deal was. Alexei went to his knees, doubled over in pain, alternating between "Aah," "Ooh," and "Dammit," as he cringed and groveled over his wounded arm.

Blitz let this go on for a few seconds, a few, long, embarrassing seconds, before he finally spoke back up. "Yeah, I broke that arm earlier, didn't I?" he questioned. Instead of a response, he received a roaring river of gibberish and swears, as the wolf continued to unsuccessfully cope with his wounded arm.

* * *

 

Natani looked over at Clovis, still holding the poisoned and knocked arrow back and ready to fire. She had seen the entire spectacle, and was looking at the half-fox like he had dragged her to a concert only he was enjoying.

Only this clearly wasn't the case, as Clovis was slowly shaking his head, his hand plastered over his eyes in shame.

"Now can I shoot him?" Natani asked rhetorically.

"You probably should," Clovis sighed. Natani didn't even have to check her aim again, and just stared at Clovis in disappointment as she let the arrow fly to Alexei.

Blitz shuddered slightly as the arrow buried itself into the upper half of Alexei's good arm, prompting yet another howl of pain as the wolf stumbled to the right in recoil. He cringed and glared at his left arm, wishing that he had a way to pull the arrow out.

But for some reason, that didn't concern him. In fact, this wasn't even distressing at all. It...felt kind of good now, come to think of it, like the arrow was pleasantly filling him with calmness and ease of mind. He could even feel his body becoming less massive, on the verge of simply floating right off of the ground. Alexei gradually shut his eyes with exhilaration, permitting himself be taken away to wherever this wonderful arrow was directing him...

Blitz just watched Alexei fall to the ground, likely banging his head on the concrete near the end. He didn't do much more than stare at Alexei for a few seconds, his mind still unable to discern the absurdity that had befallen the past few minutes.

Natani raised an eyebrow, befuddled but impressed by her brother's work. "That shot should not have killed him," she told herself as she flipped the bow over her shoulder and stood back up.

" _It didn't. You just put him to sleep. Let him have a moment,_ " Zen clarified.

Clovis' ear popped up as it caught a faint wind of Alexei snoring, if that was what it was. "Good he's enjoying himself, I suppose."

" _Is this the part where I say 'all clear?'_ " Blitz asked.

Clovis pressed two fingers to his head. "Yes, we're on our way down," he responded, standing up and shaking the grit out of his cloak. Meanwhile, Natani began poking through the bag of poisons, seeing what else her big brother had prepared for her. She was tempted just to take the whole thing with her, and she probably would have if she could have fit it onto her person. So instead she just grabbed whatever potions she could identify by inspection: Invisibility, Enhanced Vision, Instant Death, and of course the one sleep poison she had just seen firsthand.

She slipped the vials into her pocket and curiously looked around the rooftops for a way down. "We can probably use that rain gutter to get to the blacksmith's there," she began to describe her plan as Clovis sealed the potion bag and replaced it in his backpack. "Then we'll swing over to the signpost, and then..."

"Or, alternatively," the spymaster proposed as he pressed the two crystals together in his hands. "Pervolito," he said to them, and Natani would have jumped in fright as the spell took hold on her. Except that was becoming more difficult to do, seeing as how she was being lifted off of the ground at the moment. True, it was a slow ascent, and she couldn't have been more than six inches in the air, but that didn't make the thought any more unsettling.

And Clovis' hearty laughter at her expense definitely was not helping things either. "Have you really never been levitated before, Natani?" he chortled, crossing his arms and proudly smiling at the assassin, his feet floating above the roof in a similar manner.

"Not by somebody else, no!" Natani crossly snapped back as she came to terms with the spell's effects. "And what does this do anyways? We're still stuck up here!"

"Very poor use of the word 'stuck' there," the half-fox scoffed as he hovered his way behind Natani and placed a hand on her back.

"Off you go!" he called, as he shoved the weightless wolf off of the rooftop.

* * *

 

Chapter 31

"Good Gods, you do a lot of screaming," Clovis mumbled as he continued to glide with Natani down to The Fang's main entrance. The descent was taking its time; they were barely at the halfway point right now, and despite the fact that they were taking it at a nice steady pace, that didn't keep Natani from still blowing a fuse at the fact that they were still falling off of a building.

"Don't do that to me again!" she yelled up at the smirking spymaster, who was lying down on his stomach, head resting on his hands, feet crossed in the air, silently but pleasantly enjoying the ride down. She would have taken a good slash right across his face as well if he wasn't well out of arm's reach and five feet behind her at present.

" _C'mon, little brother, lighten up! Levitating is some of the best fun you can have with magic!_ "

"Zen, you are not helping," Natani retorted, still glaring at the half-fox floating above her.

Clovis pointed a finger in the direction Natani was gliding, with just a hint of concern. "You might want to look out for that, by the way," he advised.

The glare intensified. "Look out for...?" Natani said before the top part of a wooden street lantern jammed itself right onto the wolf's ribcage, immediately halting her descent to the ground.

"The lamppost, my dear girl," Clovis chuckled as he lackadaisically drifted his way past the assassin. Natani felt herself grinding down the rest of the post, like a piece of sandpaper, and kicked herself off of it to get some distance.

_I hate you so much_ , she silently snarled as her fall finally came to a close, her feet still hovering a few inches above the ground. Up the street, Clovis stood himself back up from the start of the pathway, snapped his fingers to drop both him and Natani back to the ground, and the two proceeded to the front porch, where Blitz had gotten back to work on the lock.

"Damn wolf blunted my knife," Blitz murmured as he cranked on the lock again. "It'll be a miracle if I get this open."

" _Uh, Uncle?_ " a voice reverberated from the crystal in the front pouch of his shirt.

The fox's ears perked. "What's up, Kayle?"

" _There's about fifteen people on the other side of the door. I don't think subtlety is going to be too big of an issue._ "

He shrugged. "Well, I'm picking this thing anyways," he replied, resetting the knife and twisting the pick slightly to the right.

" _Just get Natani or someone to open it. It'd be easier with magic, right?_ "

Blitz rotated the knife again, refusing to be bested by a piece of machinery. "It's the principle, sweetheart. You won't ever get better at something if you don't..."

The pick bent under the conflicting forces of the lock and the keyhole and fractured, leaving the agent with a sharp but useless strip of metal. "...try."

"Need a hand there, oh master of locks?" came a playfully condescending voice behind him.

"Like you can do any better, boss," Blitz responded as he removed his knife from the keyhole and stepped aside, almost perfectly predicting the half-fox's next move.

"I'm positive that I can," Clovis crooned, reaching into his pocket for another crystal. He flipped it over his fingers as he pushed his hand back against his head. "How many are in there again, Zen?"

" _Kayle said fifteen, but there's one more in the basement. Five gold says that's Domino._ "

Natani took a deep breath as that name ran its way through her mind. Clovis focused up as well. It was the endgame. The finishing moves. The time to decide who was the better man. He flipped the crystal into the air, drawing the power out of it as it rose into a medium-sized fireball.

He was determined to win this fight. He would be better.

"Incaendo!" he hollered, firing the blast that would unhinge the wooden door to the Dead Man's Tavern.

He waited for the dust to settle inside. Judging from the moaning, some of the mercenaries lying in wait were either slammed by the door debris or scorched by the explosion. Either way, he proudly marched inside, Blitz and Natani flanking him from behind, eyes intently focused on the backroom door.

He glanced to his left and right, and mentally shuddered. He thought his entrance would be bombastic enough for him to march straight through with his colleagues with minimal resistance, but he admittedly should have expected better from an organization like The Fang. These soldiers were sturdy, and even after being on the receiving end of a blast as spectacular as that one, most of them were still standing, swords drawn and prepared to fight. Clovis didn't like that.

"Evening, gents," he courteously stated, masking his actual reaction to their well-being. He hated improvising, but this would have to be an exception. He swiftly pulled out two more crystals, pressed them between his palms and then pushed his palms out and to the side, like he was trying to swim. "Murus igniras!" he yelled, and a line of fire erupted from his feet, bolting towards the door on the far end of the tavern. The mercenaries quickly jumped out of the way as the river of flame cut its path, then it jumped up to at least seven feet and parted down the middle, forcing the mercenaries off to the side, lest they risk being barbecued by the spell. The result was a neat, flaming aisle down the middle of the tavern, leading directly to the backroom.

"Natani, I think your friend's waiting downstairs for you," Clovis loudly spoke over his shoulder, holding his hands outward to maintain his channel.

"You're not coming with me?" the wolf yelled, brushing the spymaster aside.

"I can't! Someone has to keep these guys back!" Clovis yelled. He felt his pocket getting lighter as he continued to suck his reserve dry.

"Natani," Blitz put a hand to her shoulder. "This is our shot to end it. Let Clovis and I clean up here. You go get Domino."

The wolf glanced at the back door, patiently waiting for someone to come through it. Domino would be behind it, waiting for her. Keith would be behind it, waiting for her. The fate of the world would be behind it, waiting for the result.

She was reluctant to go in by herself, but she did not have much of an option. Clovis would be exposed as soon as the wall dropped, and Blitz would have to support him. Natani, however, was open, and now she had a clean route to the heart of The Fang.

The wall wavered a bit, thirsty for more of the magical fuel. "A decision sometime soon would be lovely!" Clovis called back to her, the channel becoming increasingly harder to hold up.

Natani glared up at Blitz, a determinedly fiery spark behind her eyes. "I'll let you know when it's done," she stated, then turned back to fully face Clovis.

"Foxboy, if you die here, I'm going to kill you."

"How delightful. You're going to kill a dead man," the half-fox chortled. "I'll make it a point not to."

Natani snorted air out through her nose, and then sprinted through the aisle of fire, the images of panicked, angry mercenaries blurring past her as she closed in on the door. She didn't even bother twisting the handle, and instead just plowed straight through, though how the door remained intact was a mystery that nobody had time to think on.

Clovis dropped the walls of fire, permitting the mercenaries to explore the room once more, but immediately regretted that decision as soon as he saw them eyeing the backroom door and starting runs towards it. He pointed at the door, and prayed that he had the mana for his next act.

The answer was a resounding yes, as the door slammed itself shut and was then put upon by a large blue seal. A couple of the mercenaries tried pushing on the door in fruitless attempts to open it. Others tried to bash it in with their weapons, only succeeding in voiding the warranty on them as they were obstinately repelled by the magical lock.

Clovis admired his work for a few moments, then turned around to Blitz. "I'll let you handle the mooks. I'm going to find some friends."

"Since when do you make friends?" the fox asked, as he started to flip his knife around once more.

"It's quite easy when you're after the same thing," the hybrid replied, exiting out the empty doorway. "I should be back before long."

Blitz nodded, not minding a little bit that he was outnumbered by an amazing margin. Clovis exited back into the azure night, while Blitz ventured over to the bar. His walk went surprisingly uncontested. Apparently, Clovis' lock was so spectacular that it required all of the attention of the fifteen mercenaries in the pub right now.

_Wow, you all deserve this one_ , he said to himself as he mantled his way on top of the bar. He stood up, shook for a second to find his balance, then raised his arms into the air, like a street herald shouting news to passersby. "Gentlemen, can I get your attention?"

All fifteen of the agents spun to look at the fox towering over them. If there was ever a tournament for synchronized instruction following, then The Fang was assuredly one of the top contenders.

Blitz actually needed a brief moment to let that sink in before he remembered he needed to pull away his eye patches. "Wow, that was easy," he remarked, firing up the hidden, hypnotic emerald once more.

* * *

 

She could only guess she was in the map room, down in the musty old cellar that The Fang loved to use for their operations. Even her night vision had issues discerning the objects down here, the absolute lightlessness that had engulfed her as soon as she set foot onto the chilled stone floor. Even the illumination from the upturned hatch above helped minimally, only managing to chase away the dark in about a five-meter radius around the stairs, where she stood.

She inhaled deeply, searching for scents. A moment passed to process the sample, and she detected two distinct ones. The first one came like an island. A slightly bloodied one at that, but an island nonetheless. Keith, most likely. The second was a urban stench, with a hint of pine and a similar bloody aftertaste.

She slowly reached into her pocket for a vial, and ejected the steel blade out of her wrist again. She examined the vessel meticulously under the remnants of her light. A toxic, rusty green liquid laid within, and she identified the poison straight away. She hoped it wouldn't have to come to this, but she could not take any chances at all. If she were to meet her end, the least she could do was take Domino down with her.

She bit the cork out of the vial and spat it out, the blackness consuming it instantly. She tipped her brother's blade into the mouth of the vial, took another deep breath, and then drenched the weapon in the venom, coating it with the lethal toxin.

She perked her ears, waiting for her brother to object in some fashion. Silence. She tossed the vial away, sending the glass tinkling somewhere off to her right.

She shut her eyes, cleared her head. This was it. No, this wasn't it. There was no need to be worked up. Domino was just another mark in the end. Another target for a reward. Another adornment for her wall. She will find him.

Another deep, heavy breath, and the wolf patted herself down, trying to remember where she put her mana reserve. The left breast pocket was the answer, and after some effort, she liberated a crystal from the tight pocket. She gripped it tightly in her hand, squeezing every drop of power she could out of it.

She put her muzzle to her fist and whispered the word "Luminos." A small but powerful white light began to work through the cracks between her fingers, and she slowly reopened her hand, letting the magical light shoo away the blinding black of the basement.

She slowly crept her way into the unexplored regions, watching her feet for anything she might stumble over. In front of her was the meeting table, and on the back wall the enormous continental map, with pins and strings of various colors connecting different points along it. Interesting, and could be useful once Domino was found and in good hands, but that was not of any matter at the moment. She turned left and continued to search the dank underground area.

Zen's voice crackled into her head as she paced about. " _Natani, if I remember correctly, there's some guest rooms up ahead. If Keith's down here..._ "

"Then that's where he is," she finished. She moved the light further in front of her, and indeed, a new hallway was unveiled, directly in front of her. She proceeded onward.

The doors were wooden and solid, allowing only a small, barred window near the top for any illumination from outside. But that also permitted the wolf to look inside as well, as she approached the first door on her right. She angled the ball of light just so for it to bounce off of the interior of the cell. Vacant.

She about faced and tried the one behind her. Again, nobody there. She continued down the black corridor, on the look for anything that could possibly tip her off.

She froze as a dim blue light snuck into sight from the second door on her right, and she immediately dismissed the light in her hand. Now freed, she put it to her head, transmitting her thoughts to her brother.

_Zen, you see what I'm seeing?_

" _Yeah, I see it,_ " Zen quietly replied, the tension in the hallway starting to affect even him. " _I think Keith's there too._ "

Natani crouched down and put her right hand out to feel for the wall. She had to turn it strangely to allow for the blade beneath her wrist, the poison dripping off of it as the steady tapping on the floor indicated. She finally felt the icy brick crawl up her arm and she shuffled across the wall accordingly. A few seconds passed, and the rough texture of the wall then swiftly receded to a slightly warmer and softer feel. The door. Natani peered up to confirm the blue light was still present.

She felt around for the latch and found it after a few unsuccessful attempts, her first two fingers wrapping around the handle to remember the spot. With her free hand, she patted herself down for another crystal and transferred it to her other hand. "Recludo," she commanded, and was rewarded with the lock sliding back on the door.

She examined the blue glow above her again. She wasn't sure what it could have been. Worst case, it was dreadroot torches, which meant she didn't have a lot of time before her sight and hearing would start to go bad in there. She decided to play around it.

But not at the risk of giving herself away.  _Zen, is there anybody down here?_

" _Nobody that's showing up. They might be..._ "

Natani didn't wait for her brother's qualification, and she opened the door, limiting how much she breathed in. Just as she feared, two dreadroot torches hung on either side of the adjacent walls, generating that signature, soft, eerie blue light. And between them, tied off to the chair, a small trickle of blood forming from the corner of his mouth...

"Keith!" Natani called for him, quickly pacing into the room to free him.

The Basitin looked at his companion, the gaze glazed but happily relieved, but then jumped alive with alert as something shifted in the dark corner of the room. "Natani, don't..." he tried to warn, his voice scratchy and inaudible.

Then two things happened at once. The cell door inexplicably slammed shut, and then a sharp, stinging, powerful pang of pain stabbed its way into the lower right quadrant of Natani's back. She would have yelled, but her mouth was immediately covered up by a white cloth, a pungent deep purple liquid splashed onto the center. She recognized the concoction immediately, even through the pain. More dreadroot extract. She tried to steady her breathing, but her wound wouldn't let her, forcing her to take shallow breath after shallow breath of the elixir, her vision growing fuzzier by the moment.

" _Nat!_ " Zen yelled, as Natani could do nothing more but wheeze in more and more of the fumes. She expected Zen to speak more, but either he was not saying anything or her mind was already starting to become clouded by the weed's side effects. The call was silent. Instead, Zen was replaced by a soothing, distorted voice, one familiar to the wolf even through the dreadroot.

"Hello again, Natani," Domino softly greeted from behind a cloth facemask. Already her green undershirt began to stain red as the blood began to trickle onto the floor, creating a sickening pitter patter as it splashed onto the stonework.

He yanked the knife out of her back, releasing yet another bolt of pain as the wolf dropped to her knees and finally onto her chest. Domino crossed in front of her, and for a second her lowered field of view only managed to catch his ankles down. He was definitely facing her, by the way his feet were oriented, but as to whatever else he was doing at the time, the wolf was clueless. Clueless and starting to bleed out.

Domino twisted his body, presumably peering around the room. The red stained knife dripped some of Natani's blood as he twirled around. "This..." he pensively stated. "This was a fun game. Wouldn't you guys agree?"

He knelt down, allowing himself to get fully within view of the downed assassin. "I mean, admit it. You were skeptical at first. Heck,  _I_  was skeptical at first. But, oh man, this ending. This was tremendous!" He pumped a fist enthusiastically.

"And you two, especially you, Natani!" he praised, thrusting a hand onto the wolf's shoulder. "This was a really, really fun night, and it was all thanks to you two."

"Zen..." Natani uttered under her breath. "...Zen..."

A female voice returned instead. " _He ran away upstairs! I'm trying to contact Uncle Blitz now!_ "

"Hey, hey Natani," Domino whispered playfully, digging underneath his shirt. He revealed a necklace, constructed out of multiple deep purple mana crystals and some basic twine, and removed it over his head. "Check this out," he urged, looping the necklace over hers and gently tightening it.

" _Uncle, it's Natani. He's..._ " And then the signal went dark in her head. Not even a hint of the mental link or the communication crystal remained. Natani's mind was now completely blank.

"What do you think? I call it a jammer," Domino elaborated. "I'd normally do that little trick where I take one of those crystals and release the magic in them, but hey, efficiency prevails."

He stood back up menacingly, and turned back to the roped Basitin. "And on the topic of efficiency, General, I think we need to determine how this game ends," he chided. He reached behind him for the pistol holster attached to his belt. He smirked wickedly as he drew it out and armed it, pressing it against the Basitin's temple.

"Let's just do a quick recap, shall we? There are five players currently against me. Two of them aren't even here, the third is stuck upstairs behind that lock spell he doesn't know how to disarm, the fourth decided to run away, and the fifth..." He waggled the gun at the downed wolf. "Well, you can probably tell what's up here, right? Even if you can't see that well, you know the story."

* * *

 

_Nat, I'm ready._

_You sure this will work?_

_We've done this before, haven't we?_

_I don't know. I've...lost a lot of blood._

_Don't think about that right now._

* * *

 

"So, with that in mind, there's not really a ton of reason to keep you around anymore, is there?" Domino asked, retraining the gun at Keith's head. "I mean, I think I won. So, I say, time for my prize, right?"

* * *

 

_He's...going to kill Keith._

_Then hurry it up!_

_OPEN YOUR MIND!_

* * *

 

Domino started to squeeze the trigger, ready to start his war with a bang. He smiled deviously gleefully, knowing that there would be no more complications now...

A rustling of clothes bounced in from his side, and he turned his head curiously. He raised an eyebrow as he observed what had to be the most unusual thing he had ever seen out of his best friend up to this point.

Even after losing all of that blood, even after being drugged with a nearly lethal amount of dreadroot, even after being disabled by the jamming necklace, the wolf staggered back to her feet, limply but willfully. Her head held heavy as she regained her strength, shakily, unstably holding the wrist blade off to the side.

Domino sighed with frustration and removed the pistol off of the Basitin's head. "Why can't you just stay down like a good person who just lost? I was in the middle of something," he complained.

" _Don't...you dare..._ " the wolf rumbled, and Domino was actually surprised for once to hear Natani speak. Nobody else was present in the room, and he hadn't seen her cast anything while she was on the ground, but for some reason her voice sounded like someone was speaking over her, copying her words and tone exactly as she said them.

Her head jumped upwards to look Domino directly, teeth bared and fists clenched. Yet another surprise for the mercenary. It was those eyes. Those inexplicable, glowing yellow eyes that Natani now somehow had. How in the world someone like her could have drawn forth this sort of power...

Domino tilted his head interestedly at an image flickering behind Natani, off to the side slightly. It looked almost exactly like her, albeit with a much brighter tint of fur color and much shorter hair. He finally caught onto the trick. The two brothers were, after all, sharing the same soul. It was only fair that one brother could lend his share to the other. Domino grinned, enthused at this newly discovered twist.

The game wasn't over yet. Far from it, in fact.

" _Don't you lay a finger on him!_ " the combined souls of Natani and Zen roared, as they yanked the necklace off and discarded it to the side, then thrust the poisoned blade at the mercenary. Domino's eyes jumped open, alerted by how swiftly the strike was thrown, and barely had the time to knock it away with the dagger in his left hand. He flicked the pistol back up, trying to line up a quick shot, but the target almost seemed precognizant, like it knew that he would try for the gun, and ducked below the barrel. Another sweeping strike came at Domino's ankles, which he nimbly hurdled. Seeing a nearly perfect opportunity, he dropped the pistol's aim, having an immaculately clear shot at the wolf's back.

Again, it was like they had foreseen the fight, knowing when the mercenary would throw each move when. Instead of trying dodge or roll out of the way, the two brothers landed a clean slice on Domino's wrist, causing his feet to stagger backwards and his shooting arm to waver wildly. He glanced at the blade he'd been cut with, and was mildly shocked to see the green poison gleaming off of it in the torchlight. It wasn't much of a concern at the moment, seeing as how the underside of his arm was wounded and the toxin wouldn't have had a chance to get into his body from there. But anything more critical than that...

Two more stabs came his way, forcing him to dodge left and then right to evade. The assassins never allowed Domino a window of attack, and backed him further and further against the cell wall. Another sweep at his midsection caused him to jump backwards.

Perfect pistol distance, and Domino's eyes lit up as the saw the opportunity before him. He raised his right hand again, this time already prepared to take the shot. His aim was akin to him being fully intoxicated, but at this kind of distance, the shot was sure to land. He readied his hand at the trigger...

And then one second later, the pistol had disappeared out of his hand. Domino didn't panic often, but now he was genuinely distressed at how that could have possibly happened. His eyes darted everywhere across the room, thinking that if it had jumped somewhere it couldn't have been too far away.

The grinding sound of metal on metal then gave him the crucial hint he needed. " _It's ours now,_ " the brothers snarled, as they spun the pistol about its trigger guard, using the wrist blade as the apex. They must have slipped the blade in between Domino's finger and the metal ring around the trigger, and then pulled back to disarm him. That was the only explanation Domino could think of at the time, and the thought of being left with just a knife in this situation did not please him at all.

" _You're usually more talkative,_ " the assassins flatly remarked. The blade flipped up to the ceiling, launching the firearm up into the air, and then expertly catching it in the left hand. They didn't fire it yet and instead forced Domino to parry their next attack with the blade. Domino didn't quite understand at first, but then he had the idea that maybe, as rage and adrenaline fueled as his opponents were, they didn't want to waste the one shot that was loaded.

But if he wanted even a close fight, with these odds, then his weapon was in a terrible position. He quickly tried to transfer his knife, still moist with Natani's blood, over to his good hand. The assassins noticed the purpose of this move almost straightaway, and made one more swing at his head. This one came dangerously close to landing, and Domino was thankful that he still had the energy to get out of the way.

His objective was complete, however, and with the correct hand equipped, he tried to regain the momentum. Not before another strike came for his side, though, which he knocked away with a graceful circular parry. He took a slash towards his opponents' left shoulder, more than ready to begin the counterattack.

It was blocked, which was not horribly surprising. It was the manner in which it was blocked that got his attention. Instead of simply being brushed to the side like one would normally do, the assassin's didn't seem content with just doing that, and instead caught the slender tip of Domino's dagger in the barrel of the pistol. Stunned, he tried to disengage his blade from the firearm, but the assassin wouldn't let him without fully retracting his arm and putting him back on the defense. Domino refused to let that happen again.

So the brothers helped him, and swatted at the stuck knife with the wrist blade. The swift, downward force knocked it free from the shocked mercenary's hand, and sent it spinning down to the ground. The  _clank_  as it impacted the brick floor was drowned out by the assassins' roaring as they grabbed Domino and rushed him against the wall. Air hastily exited his lungs on impact, and he could have sworn the wall he was thrown into cracked a bit as the brothers prevented any sort of escape for him. The pistol was oppressively pushed against his left cheekbone, and the glistening poisoned blade was precariously pressed to his neck.

That didn't stop Domino from smugly grinning and talking, however. "Well?" he whispered menacingly, like he had more tricks up his sleeve. "You aren't going to kill me?"

The assassin menacingly growled, and pushed both weapons closer to his head. Domino forced up a laugh. "I told you that I knew everything about you. About your past, about your job. But I lied. I want to know more."

* * *

 

_I'm going to kill this bastard!_

_Nat, leave him! He's not your problem! Keith needs him!_

* * *

 

"Don't think you won't get any pleasure out of killing me right here and now, Natani. We both know you would love to be my end. And I would not have it any other way. It would be nothing short of an honor to see my pistol on your wall, and all you need to do to make it reality is give this," Domino crooned as he raised his right hand, gently wrapped it around the brothers' left, and placed his forefinger on theirs, at the trigger.

"One, small, gentle pull," he finished, with an esteemed smile.

* * *

 

_He's playing with you Natani. He doesn't need to die._

_We both know he wants to._

_Don't do it!_

_This one's for Keith._

* * *

 

"Nat," Keith's voice rasped from behind her. He coughed through the fumes, ejecting a few more droplets of blood from his mouth. "You don't have to do this."

The wolf huffed. Her finger was getting itchy, and Domino was more than willing to help her scratch it. His grin widened.

"For me," Keith whispered, trying his best to look at his friend at the eyes over his shoulder. The wolf turned to her left, her intense yellow eyes locking with the softness of Keith's.

"Please."

Domino's visage bordered on crazed, his smile reaching levels of lunacy that would make one would go insane for just thinking about. The wolf glared at him again, and he pulled the gun even closer to him, ramming the barrel right against the side of his head. "I'm ready when you are, girl!" he yelled, snickering through closed teeth, waiting for his fate to be decided.

The gun retracted, and the snickers died down as it was. The brothers retracted the blade back into the gauntlet and took a cautious step backwards, the gun still pointed at Domino, but not nearly as threateningly. This felt more like dissuasion, and Domino did not like that.

"Do it, Natani!" he barked madly. "Shoot me!"

" _Walk,_ " the wolf commanded, pointing at the cell's door.

* * *

 

Domino opened the backroom door by himself, his pistol aimed at the direct center of his back, as he gradually proceeded into the main area of the pub. Two half-plate sporting palace guards rushed in from the front door to greet him, and took him by both arms. As they applied the shackles to his wrists, Natani retreated back to the basement, slipping the pistol into her back pocket as she went back down the stairs.

Domino did not resist at all. He always played by the rules of his games. He looked around the rest of the pub. Even more guards were in the room, searching and arresting his men in an orderly line. Likely they would be charged with conspiracy, and himself with that plus a few murder charges as well. At least he couldn't say he didn't try.

The guards escorted him to the front doorway, where Clovis and Rammstein were standing and conversing off to the side. Domino found that relation intriguing just from the premise alone: a crime lord and master spy casually talking to the one person who had been hounding him ever since he heard his name. He had problems believing that Clovis could have tipped off the city watch to this degree, but he supposed it wasn't impossible.

He picked up fragments of their conversation as he was slowly walked in their direction. "...understand this doesn't get you off the hook."

"Well aware, Your Highness. But what would you have done if I hadn't?"

"A fair point. You're still a criminal by definition, however. And we will see that this matter is handled accordingly."

"I'm perfectly content with you just letting me go and us continuing to play cat and mouse."

"That will not happen, as much as you want it to," Rammstein argued, then noticed the mercenary approaching out of the corner of his glasses. "We'll continue this later," he firmly asserted as he turned to Domino.

The captured wolf peered up at the royal, a indiscernible calmness behind the dull grey eyes. "I guess this is one way to meet you in person, Your Majesty," he grinned with mellowness.

Rammstein's visage did not move far from the stern, intense glare he'd borne ever since Clovis barged into his keep with the news. "I think we could have been quite good friends had it not been for this," he remarked, arms crossed, glasses fogging slightly as the chilled air swept into the bar.

Domino scoffed and nodded, his thoughts mirroring his king's precisely. "So what happens now?"

"We take you back to the Basidian Isles. We'll have you stand trial for your transgressions against both of our nations, and decide your fate as well as The Fang's."

The mercenary exhaled, acknowledging the coming procedures. "What are my odds?"

Rammstein put it as bluntly as he could. "You're probably going to prison," he replied. "For a very, very long time."

"Only probably," Domino pointed out. Rammstein's glare intensified slightly, but did not last long, as a guard watching the back jogged up to him.

"Sir, Natani is back," he informed, crisply saluting his king. "General Keiser is with him."

"Are they injured?"

"Both are suffering from dreadroot inhalation, and Natani has been stabbed. General Keiser's a little roughed up as well."

Rammstein nodded. "I'd best check on them then," he noted, and turned to the two guards holding Domino. "Get him to the carriage. He talks to nobody."

Clovis raised a hand in protest. "Actually, Your Majesty, might I talk to him before he's turned over?"

The royal peered over at Clovis, thinking on the question for a second. "Very well," he agreed before taking his leave to the backroom. Clovis paced around to Domino, hands behind him. He wasn't smiling like he normally was. He was taking his victory seriously for once, not basking in any of its glory.

He leered at Domino, and the mercenary smiled back at him. "We never got in our chess game, did we?" he asked, sorrowfully.

Clovis reached into his red cloak, and drew out the pistol that was left on his desk the night before. Both of the guards jumped, expecting a shot, but the half-fox instead flipped it around in his hand, holding it by the barrel.

"You know," he responded, pensively. "I'd say that this came rather close to a proper match by itself." He handed the pistol over to the guard on the right.

"Checkmate," Clovis declared. And at that, the two guards took Domino out the front door, with no more dialogue exchanged.

With three wolves now out of the building, two foxes and another wolf took their place. "Boss, Zen and Kayle are here," Blitz said from the doorway, his arm wrapped around assassin.

The half-fox cursorily inspected Zen and noticed the same. "What happened to him?"

"He's a little worn out from that soul meld thing he did earlier," Kayle added, adjusting Zen's arm on top of her shoulder.

The wolf still had the strength to speak, even if his legs were beyond faulty at the moment. "Where's Nat?"

Clovis finally caved and gave that crooked, toothy grin of his a quick flash. "Follow me," he instructed, marching to the back door, the drained assassin being helped along by the two foxes.

The backroom was cramped enough with the booze needed to run the bar, but with the entire company, Keith, Rammstein, and the five or so medics stuffed inside as well, the concept of personal space was deemed much less compulsory than it would have been otherwise. Against the wall, Natani was being bandaged for her recent backstabbing. Next to her, Keith was given a small cup of water, in which his medic had sprinkled just a few grams of clearveil and other various remedies.

Natani's eyes lit up as she caught sight of her brother, and she would have sprung up to meet him at the doorway if she wasn't currently receiving treatment. Instead, she went with a forced but triumphant smile, returned almost immediately by her sibling.

"Thank you, Natani," Keith called to his friend. Natani glanced over at the Basitin, not turning her head or moving more than she had to. The medic seemed to be having enough problems patching her up without her fidgeting.

"You really need to find a less dangerous job," she replied, sternly, but in a friendly manner.

"I'm a diplomat; you'd think my jobs would be more low key," the Basitin griped.

"Hey, it isn't too late to see if Adelaide has any other positions for you."

Keith snickered at that proposition. "I wouldn't have this any other way, Nat. This is exactly why I'm here. We stopped a war today. And it's all thanks to you and your friends."

Natani peered over at the entourage of Keidran in front of her. Zen, Clovis, the two foxes, Rammstein. Sythe, even Mike and Evals back over on the island. Her and Keith would have to teleport back there and explain what had transpired at some point. But everything hinged on that one thing, and she was thankful as well. Thankful for her brother, who kept her alive and found out everything she needed. Thankful for the foxes, who kept him and her from feeling alone. Thankful for the spymaster, who kept her faith alive.

"So what are you going to do?" Keith asked.

Natani's ears perked as she looked back over to the general. "About what?"

"I mean, after this, Adelaide has to put me on leave for a little bit, and you'll probably want to rest up too."

"Yeah, no kidding," the wolf agreed.

"And then I'm probably going to get shot right out again to break up something else."

"And you think you'll need another escort, huh?"

Keith looked over at the wolf and took a quick sip of the water. "I understand if you need some downtime after this. Your brother probably wants you to stay as well, get some more work done with the bounty hunting business."

"What's all this about me?" Zen chimed in as he paced over to Natani and stood on her other side.

"Keith's trying to sucker me into working for him again," Natani explained, jocularly.

"Just for a little bit," Keith clarified. "I get it if you say no. You two haven't been together for a while."

Natani looked up at Zen, almost asking for his input on the matter. Zen shrugged back. "It's your call, little brother. Like I said," he responded, tapping the side of his head. "I'm always with you."

Natani took another second to think about her decision. Then smiled again and looked back over at Keith. "As long as you try to pick up an assignment that's a little less dangerous this time, alright?"

The Basitin returned the grin. "Yeah, I'll try," he replied. "No promises, though."


	5. Epilogue: Records, Rope and Relaxation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dust settles. For now...

TwoKinds: Redemption

A Fan-Fiction Novel

Written by WildSnivy

Epilogue: Records, Rope and Relaxation

The half-fox leaned back in his chair, and sighed softly to himself. This little interview had been two weeks in the making, and he had been completely deprived of his old life ever since Domino was found. Though he would say Rammstein had a very valid point, that he was still a criminal despite uprooting what may have been the single largest plot against the world he had ever seen. But the least he could have done was permitted the spymaster leave back to his residence. He didn't have anywhere to go, and if they were really that worried about him disappearing they always could have given him an anti-magic brace or something like that. Tossing him into the stockades, however, was probably not necessary. Was the watch really that distrusting of him? One would hope that wasn't the case; after all, Clovis had been nothing but credible throughout this venture. Why it was only being questioned now was something he couldn't quite fathom, and that was arguably more unbearable than the prison cells to him.

The door wailed on its hinges as it opened into the interview room, the minimalistic table and two chairs stationed perfectly between the four braziers in the corners. A muddy grey colored wolf entered, and briskly walked to the chair opposite Clovis. He collapsed into it, exhaustedly, and gently placed the thick paper stack in his hand onto the table. Neither him nor Clovis said anything for a few seconds, with the small crackling of the braziers the only noise in the room.

Sythe cleared his throat and placed his elbows onto the table. "First off, you didn't put us in an easy situation. I just want you to know that."

"The hard puzzles are the most rewarding ones."

"You have single-handedly divided almost every Keidran in this city between letting you live as a hero or die as a criminal."

"And what's the majority ruling, might I ask?"

Sythe subtly smirked from behind his stoic visage. "Amazingly, they want you to live."

Clovis hummed in piqued interest. "Shocking, most people who meet me want the opposite."

"We're preparing to release you this afternoon. We'll clean your slate as a thank you, you'll get your stuff back and we're going to act like this little incident never happened."

"And what about Domino?" Clovis asked. "Anything from him lately?"

Sythe flipped through the pages in front of him, seeing if there was anything to address that question. Nothing turned up. "If anything has happened involving him and the trial, either it's just now happening or we don't have any documentation for it."

"So no, you don't have any news."

"Not at the moment," Sythe huffed as he peered back up from his papers. "But if I know Keith like I think I do, then I think we're in good hands."

* * *

 

"And then it goes around the standing end again, right?"

"Twice, then punch it through the loop you just made."

Natani took a deep breath to clear her head, and picture the result she wanted. Mike and Evals were leaned against the deck's banister, eagerly anticipating what the wolf could do. The dying sunlight was far from perfect lighting for this sort of job, but it sufficed, as Natani continued to visualize the knot.

Then, in a series of quick premeditated motions, the wolf swiftly whipped the end of the rope through the metal ring embedded onto the side of the ship and looped it back over itself. She brought it back up a couple inches, then executed two more turns onto the rope, punctuating it a hefty jerk as the knot slid its way down to the anchor, snugly securing itself to it.

She plucked the rope like a guitar string a few times, enjoying the thumping bass sound it gave off as she did so. She glanced back up at the sailors, waiting for an evaluation, but neither of them seemed ready or even capable of giving on the moment, if their stunned appearances were representative of their thoughts at all.

Maybe she tied it wrong, and Natani pointed at her work for confirmation. "That's it, right? That's a taut-line hitch, right?"

Mike would have loved to say that yes, that was indeed the hitch he'd been teaching. Evals definitely would have chimed in to say that it looked amazing for a first run through. But collectively, the two sailors didn't produce anything more coherent than a mystified "Whoa."

"I'll take that as a yes," Natani beamed as she slipped the knot loose and handed the loose end back to Evals. It sat limply in his hands, as he continued to gawk at the now vacated ring where the world record knot once lived.

Mike finally broke out of his stupor enough to get his speech back. "Why do you have to be so good at everything?"

"If I was good at sailing, then I wouldn't be here taking lessons on it from you two," Natani stated. "So, what's the next one?"

"Next what?" Evals woofed, dazed.

Natani blinked, unsure of why that rudimentary hitch was so engrossing to the dog. "Knot?" she inquired. "That's what we've been doing for the last half hour?"

Mike took the rope out of the dog's hands and started to coil it over his elbow and shoulder. "If you're going to tie everything that fast, you might just be better off with a book. Let's go to something else."

Natani wasn't very fond of that answer. "What does that mean?"

"Did you not see how quick that last knot was done?" Mike skeptically asked back.

"Mike, I told you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to get better, alright?" Natani reassured. "And you two are the only friends I have that sail on a..."

"Wait, wait, what?" Evals interrupted.

"What?"

"He said the 'F' word," Mike whispered to the dog.

"We're really your friends, Natani?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't you be?" the wolf replied, perplexed.

The two sailors looked back at each other for a brief moment. After a while, the fox grinned and let loose the rope, collapsing it onto the Quantum's deck. "Alright then," he warmly responded.

Evals mirrored the expression and got to work turning a new knot over the banister. "Let's get back to work."

* * *

 

Clovis cringed a bit as the stockade gates were thrust open, permitting him to finally exit that drab estate. He was slightly grateful that Sythe had somehow cleaned his background for him, even if he was just going to dirty it again right away. The offer was not really effective in that regard. It seemed more of an appreciative gesture if anything, and Clovis could understand that the whole nation would have been on fire had he not intervened.

But that entire fiasco was over and done with now, and that meant he could finally go home. He took in a breath of the city air like he would with a sip of his wine, and nodded at the two wardens holding the gates open as he crossed to the other side. The metal fell back down with an audible _clang_  as soon as he was back into the main street, and the half-fox prepared to receive his home once again.

He stopped immediately as he noticed a trio of Keidran standing in front of him, almost expectantly. Zen was at the front, his hands resting in his pockets, very relaxed and at ease. Blitz stood off to his left, his bandana pulled down off of his face for some reason or another. At least he had his knife out, as proof that he wasn't an imposter. Then there was Kayle, who stood out as particularly unusual for Clovis. She was not sporting her usual outfit, the white shirt and blue pants that were practically uniform for whenever she was at Macmillan's. Well, maybe she was still in her usual clothes at the moment, but that would have been impossible to tell under her bright yellow hooded shirt, in almost the same style as the other two.

Clovis wasn't sure if he was supposed to be honored, amused or befuddled by the escort waiting for him here. "The job is over, you know. You don't have to follow me everywhere."

"Yeah," Kayle replied. "We don't have to."

The half-fox couldn't do much more than deploy another crooked smile as he walked past Zen and the Foxes, leading them casually back to his manor. "How did the trial go?" he asked Zen from over his shoulder.

"Life sentence, no parole," the wolf answered. "Or at least that's what Nat said."

"Apparently he's being left in the Basitins' custody," Blitz added. "Guessing they don't want him passing notes."

"So we won, right?" Kayle interjected.

"Resoundingly," Clovis replied with esteem. "I'd argue that this couldn't have gone too much better, actually."

"What were you doing in the stockades that long anyways?" Zen asked.

"It seems that our King didn't like the fact that I of all people just did our country a favor. So I was in limbo essentially until your friend Sythe showed up and talked them out of killing me."

"And how'd it go?" the Polar Fox said, snapping his knife shut and tossing it open again.

"They gave me a fresh start for my past and kicked me out the door, long story short."

Zen scoffed. "I'll tell Sythe you say thanks."

"You can also tell him to start chaining his wallet to his belt," Clovis added, pulling out a brown leather wallet and waving it in front of him, tauntingly in a way.

Kayle was stupefied momentarily and leered at the half-fox like a mother about to scold her child. "What did you do that for? You're clean now!"

"One of the few things I absolutely loathe, Kayle, is the idea that there isn't someone out there thinking about me," Clovis chuckled as he thumbed through the diplomat's belongings, examining everything from bank notes to documents and even a couple safe deposit keys as he rummaged around in it.

Kayle continued to protest. "Clovis, this is a new start. Why would..."

"Sweetheart, just let him be Clovis," Blitz sighed, rolling his bandana back up his face.

Zen shrugged as well. "Yeah. Besides, in the end, it's just a wallet. Not really a big deal when you think about it." And no sooner was he forced to swallow those words when the clamoring of bells echoed off of the buildings lining the main street. They were emanating from the stockades behind them, judging from the echo patterns, and Zen could have sworn he heard some yelling from further up the street as stockade guards began to march out of the gates and into the Keidran community, asking questions to anybody who dared make eye contact with them.

Clovis took the hint and raised his hood, as did everybody else. The last thing anyone wanted was to be associated with Clovis after he just reinstated his criminal record.

"Anybody for luncheon?" he offered his three colleagues as they continued to push into the jammed, swarming streets of the capital.

* * *

 

Back below deck, as the Quantum continued to cut its way back through the ocean, the Basitin continued to pen his way through the papers in front of him. It wasn't at all related to his job, by no means. After the trial that put Domino behind iron his work was practically finished. All that was left was to head back to wolf country and pick up where he had left off: the Human-Wolf situation. Though that seemed a very paltry situation compared to what he had just undone. Nevertheless, the Templars would probably want some reason as to why he wasn't anywhere close to their headquarters in the past month. So ever since Natani ported both of them back to the harbor, he had been madly writing away, like a novelist pressed for a deadline, detailing every single event and occurrence that caused him so much delay. They would hear everything: The Fang, Clovis' spy ring, the bomb planting. Nothing could go unrecorded.

The quill ran dry once more, and Keith reached over to replenish it, dunking it in the one partly filled ink well amongst several depleted ones. He readied himself to start the next paragraph, this one on Sythe and The Fang's raid of the Quantum, as the open door to his cabin was rapped upon by the wolf.

"Hey," Natani kindly greeted her friend as she showed herself into the room. "Mike's cooking off some hamburgers, if you wanted to join us."

"Yeah," Keith replied, over the soft scratch of the quill on the parchment. "Yeah, I'll be there in a second."

She walked up to his side and looked over his desk and the sheer entropy on display there. "Jeesh, you writing a book or something?"

"That's what it feels like, yeah," he answered, setting the quill down for a moment to flex his hand, feeling it cramp slightly. "But someone's got to explain why I wasn't around to mediate the Human-Wolf talks."

"I think you may have outdone yourself, Keith. That's, what, fifty pages on that stack there?"

"Front and back."

"How long have you been at this?"

"Since we left port. I did a little of it right before we left too."

"And that's it?"

"That's all."

"Alright, you know what?"

"What?"

"Look here for a second," Natani ordered, prompting Keith to turn his head right, to where the wolf was standing. He was immediately ambushed by a well-timed smooch from his ally, a cleverly disguised kiss that would have surprised all but the most tempered of souls. Keith did not mind it whatsoever, and placed his arm onto Natani's back, affectionately scratching her. A small gust of wind picked up and lifted the top couple of pages on Keith's stack, rustling them slightly.

Natani smiled one the kiss had ended, and rested her head on top of Keith's. The Basitin grinned back. "I think that's the first time I've seen your tail wag like that in a while," he quietly noted.

"It's only like that when you're around," the wolf softly replied, before heaving a heavy sigh and repositioning herself to see Keith again. "Which is why I'm hoping you take some time off soon."

Keith chuckled and pressed the pen back to the page. "Can I at least finish this paragraph?"

"Mike and Evals found some fireworks too. Thought they'd shoot them off tonight. Just...taking the night off, yeah?"

The Basitin nodded back. "Just give me a couple more minutes, alright?"

"If you're not on A Deck in five..."

"Tell Mike I like provolone."

"Say you're gonna be there, Keith."

"I'll be right up!" Keith laughed, waving a hand and shooing the wolf out the door. "Just let me wrap up here."

Natani smiled again on her way back out. "Alright," she replied as she turned for the corridor up. Keith waited for a second before he turned his attention back to his papers, prepared to start once again...

The ink wouldn't flow. The quill was perfectly functional but his hand was frozen. Not out of any amount of cramping, but just out of thought. His mind couldn't focus. It was glued to one concept and refused to budge. He felt compelled to continue his letter, but the motivation was gone. Thoughts of Natani flooded into his mind, one after another, blocking out any hope he had of continuing to write his report. He tried forcing his hand to move, make it write something on the fresh sheet. He finally did get it to twitch and scribble something, haphazardly and nigh on illegibly. But at least it was something:

_What are you still doing down here?_

A crack of exploding sulfur from above deck and a shower of purple sparks raining from outside the cabin's porthole quickly answered that question.

Keith set the quill down on his paper and replaced the rubber stopper in his ink well.


End file.
